Earlier this year we talked about the revival of classic guitar-indie after some electronic years. One of the bands that represent it but never would admit that the genre’s been dead is Katohjärta (name from the tale “Mio min Mio”) from the north of Sweden.

Katohjärta makes music like time stands still but with contemporary lyrics. The album title ”Nothing is going to be all right” sums up their approach to life and death. The lyrics are about social anxiety, alienation, lost love and mental illness, but not at all in a self-pity way. You could call it academic emo-pop because the lyrics are really clever and they twist words in an ingenious way.

The sound is quite classic with guitars, drums and bass but without being dull. The music puts the lyrics in front and makes the songs larger, bringing ponderosity to the stories. Even though they are quite sad, about loneliness and self-hatred, I don’t really feel sad when I listen to it. More like the opposite. In this album I found a friend and someone to hold.

No matter what the title is, the songs fill me up with hopefulness and I’m beginning to think that I could walk through life again. Maybe because knowing there’s someone else out there feeling the same or even worse makes it all better. So yes, this album is special, and I think listeners all over the world can understand every single word, although it’s entirely in Swedish. (Fabian Forslund)

*

Stream “Inget kommer att ordna sig” on Soundcloud.