Artist of the Day: Audrey

I feel a little guilty that the news that Audrey are entirely female was such a surprise to me. I guess my standard “music nerd on the Internet” sexism must have reached a point where I expect the musicians to be predominantly male. What’s worse is that I assumed the band’s shared vocal efforts were in fact the voice of one Swedish singer, which I guess makes me racist, too. So on learning that the man behind the keyboard for this feature is both sexist and racist (two qualities that my father tells me are rather fun), allow me to introduce you to Audrey: an all female indie/ post-rock quartet from the musically enriched land of Sweden.

Formed in 2002, the band first started playing together in a rundown music-house that was literally falling down around them. As they worked to entwine violin with guitar, mice would scurry across the floor. A particularly aggressive kick of a bass drum would send dust falling in the room below, and utensils were rendered useless due to them being completely frozen. As such, you can imagine, Audrey’s music can be just a little bit sad. While never really depressing, their songs always exhibit this downtrodden apathy and often a small tinge of just struggling with what you have. The music itself is rather straightforward, for what it’s worth. Any small fan of post-rock won’t really hear anything spectacular here, although the atmosphere that Audrey create is so sharp and precise that it’s enough to carry the band to greatness. No doubt this is somewhat down to the aforementioned shared vocal efforts, which display a startling display of conformity in both the disarming softness and constant melancholy.

Their discography isn’t exactly large, sitting as it is at a demo, an EP and two LPs, but the most recent is arguably the best place to start. Pushing the band’s more indie sensibilities to the forefront, The Fierce and the Longing finds the perfect balance between post-rock complexities and more pop-y hooks and soundbites. It comes delivered in the classically mystical Swedish-folk finish, too, which makes the album almost impossible to reject. Even for a man who’s supposedly a racist misogynist.  


Official Website