Think of Swedish music and what springs to mind is nothing if not diverse; ABBA are obligatory, indie pop is blooming, and obviously, death metal essential. Increasingly though, helped by the success of artists such as The Knife, Swedish electro is making more and more noise.
And while the large crowd that turned out for this gig at Bungalows & Bears was definitely burgeoned by the recession-busting free entry policy, there’s no doubt that the reputation of Axel Willner precedes him these days.
The Stockholmer made his name with his debut album under moniker The Field, 2007’s From Here We Go Sublime, which received almost universal critical acclaim for its brand of blissed-out, minimal techno. 2009 has seen the release of a new album, Yesterday and Today, and the addition of more live instrumentation for the touring band, which at this Sheffield show encompassed guitar, drums, bass and even a rare spot of vocals in the first song.
Abstract, glitchy visuals were projected onto the wall behind the stage throughout and were particularly welcome given the restricted sightlines on such a busy night, but never distracted from the music.
There was barely a word spoken by the band; indeed, hardly a gap between each song, tracks blending into one another in a performance that impressively lasted over an hour, but was absorbing enough to hardly feel like it.
And while not everyone present had the inclination or attention span to last that long, as the set went on much of the initially hesitant head-nodding audience were increasingly drawn in, as front and centre of the crowd became a writhing dancefloor.
An extended version of ‘Over The Ice’ ebbed and flowed, drawing the audience almost to distraction as it dropped to a lull, before grabbing attention back again in a burst of colour and noise. Similarly, ‘The Little Heart Beats So Fast’, based around a sample from fellow Swedes The Embassy, was drawn out to an absorbingly exploratory fifteen minutes.
Crowd-pleasing for those already fans, intriguing for the uninitiated; a bargain all round.