Melby is a Stockholm four-piece (“playing some kind of indie/folk/psych/art pop maybe?“) composed of Matilda Wiezell, Are Engen Steinsholm, David Jehrlander and Teo Jernkvist. Their debut album None Of This Makes Me Worry was released in 2019, on Rama Lama records and took them on tour in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK. The band had already started to work on some new songs after the debut came out, but when the pandemic struck, having just been about to head out on tour to Germany, they were left back in Stockholm, and, unable to meet up in the early months, they started to work separately, mailing song ideas back and forth. When things opened up a little, they reconvened back in the studio with long-time engineer Alexander Eldefors, but having begun separately, and still being a bit restricted in their ability to play together, the writing process had morphed into something different. Instead of playing the songs together, they made full use of the studio to construct them piece-by-piece. Now they’re back with Looks Like A Map, again on Rama Lama Records.

What They Say: “Hammers’ is an associative, free-flowing journey into the memory of my home-town: A small place in northern Norway, with spectacular sceneries and a community that’s warm if you belong, and harsh if you don’t” (Are Engen Steinsholm)

“Music Should Feel is a song about love, missing someone, and processing those feelings. Acceptance, a tribute to past experiences, and the hope for new good ones. The song came together over quite a long period, was forgotten for a while, and then was brought back to life, and got its chorus, after a lot of rehearsal and attempts at making a demo”. (Matilda Wiezell).

Their Mixtape: “We chose some songs we listen to at the moment, it’s a real mishmash of genres but that’s also an accurate description of our tastes and inspirations.“

Macie Stewart – Garter Snake

This song has that quality of really sucking you in and instantly enter another state of mind. Beautiful arrangements and highly relatable lyrics for anyone who, like me, finds themselves just staring into a wall quite often.

Andy Shauf – The Magician

This one gets me every time. Builds up the mood so beautifully.

Becca Mancari – Hunter

Heard from a friend that he thinks Melby sounds a bit like this song, which to me is a true compliment, having enjoyed it for a long time. Also read up a bit on her background with childhood horror stories from church, which truly gives the lyrics another layer of depth.

Okay Kaya – Mother Nature’s Bitch

Great song, great title, perfect length.

MGMT – Time To Pretend

Time to pretend is in my opinion a masterpiece, a very funny, sad and cynical song about fame, excess and escapism.

POND – Human Touch

Love POND’s latest album! They’ve left the well-trodden psych-pop path and gone off into a strange blend of their own.

Looks Like A Map is out now on Rama Lama Records. Look HERE for more information on Melby.