Wildbirds & Peacedrums + Simian Ghost at Grüner Salon / Sunday, 09.11.2014

An almost unclassifiable mix of spare, bluesy vocals and powerful drumming – with some pop and jazz elements mixed in for good measure – Sweden’s Wildbirds & Peacedrums feature singer Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werliin.

The pair met in 2004 at Gothenburg’s Academy of Music and Drama but, frustrated at the institute’s rigid format, they began making music on their own the following year (and also got married).

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They released two limited-edition CD-Rs on their own before recording their full-fledged debut album, Heartcore, in 2006; it was released in 2007 by the Swedish label Found You. Leaf reissued the album internationally in spring 2008; that year, the band also toured with Lykke Li and was named that year’s Jazz in Sweden artist.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums’s second album, Snake, arrived in 2008 on the Swedish jazz label Caprice. The album was released in the U.S. a year later. The duo embarked to Iceland to record two EPs within a week: Retina, which they made with cellist and arranger Hildur Guðnadóttir and the Schola Cantorum Reykjavík Chamber Choir, and Iris, which they recorded in Reykjavík’s Greenhouse studios. The EPs were given limited-edition releases in May and June of 2010; a few months later, they were combined as the album Rivers.

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In 2014, Wildbirds & Peacedrums return with their first record in four years; lean, hungry and defiant. In stripping back they have discovered an unblinking directness, a taut muscularity honed from years of intensive live performance. Wildbirds & Peacedrums have turned the screw.

Swedish troupe Simian Ghost are the intelligent pop brainchild of gifted songwriter Sebastian Arnström. At first a solo project, Sebastian’s debut album under this moniker, topped the critics chart in their home country and was voted record of the year by the readers at Dagensskiva.se.

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Shortly after the release of the debut, a live trio with Sebastian’s little brother Erik Klinga and his high school friend Mathias Zachrisson joining the band. 2011’s defining moment was to come with the announcement of their first UK release – the seven song EP, entitled Lovelorn. At the start of 2012, Simian Ghost’s momentum continued with them being featured as the year’s first New Band Of The Day with the UK’s biggest broadsheet, The Guardian, and the first new material from their second record was released on January 16th in the form of stylish new single, “Wolf Girl”.

The band’s second album, titled “Youth”, was released on March 5th and strengthened their ties further with Heist Or Hit. The album was acclaimed in many publications including The London Times. The band were invited by the BBC to play sessions on both BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6Music.