Swedish indie band Join The Riot started the new year with releasing their brand new five-track EP, “Echo”, on January 12th. There’s a pervading sense of fun that envelopes you right from the opening bars of ‘Fantasies’, the opening track on Swedish quintet Join The Riot’s brand new EP.
As the drums kick in on the opener, you feel as though you’re waking up to sunshine and possibilities after a long winter’s sleep. ‘Everybody’s got a heavy heart’, sings frontman Henrik Ljungqvist, though as his band’s synth-led retro-pop builds behind him, you find that somewhat hard to believe.
‘Echo’, the five-track offering from the Stockholm-based group was released last week, following on from 2015’s outstandingly named full-length, ‘A Glass Cage Of Emotions’. Lead single ‘Pretender’ has already been gathering traction on the radio as well as being picked up by Spotify’s playlists.
This momentum is well deserved. The single is perhaps the best combination yet of JTR’s rock and electro-pop influences. The rolling synth bass line in the first verse is reminiscent of fellow genre-hoppers Hot Chip, yet you can picture the euphoric chorus going down even better with an open-air festival crowd than on a club dancefloor.
‘Echo’ marks a genuine progression, drawing on the band’s diverse experiences touring and recording in recent years.
You can’t say these guys haven’t been busy since their formation back in 2013, with a slew of singles already under their belts and a tour of China ticked off the bucket list as of last year. Another full-length record has been mooted for later in 2018, but in the interim ‘Echo’ marks a genuine progression, drawing on the band’s diverse experiences touring and recording in recent years.
