Nordic November Week Two. Today: Sweden. 

The Radio Dept. have a name that sounds like either the most bitchin' section of a Sears Roebuck and Co ninety years ago or perhaps some covert office in the military. It turns out they translated the name of a radio repair store called "Radioavdelningen." I told you there'd be lots of vowels. Their music has been classified under the subgenres of "dream pop" and the hilariously yet somehow logically titled "shoegaze." Neither of those "styles" typically move the needle for me, but both are apt here to various degrees of accuracy depending on the song. What drew me to the band is the calming, cozy aspect of the tunes, even though half of them sound like what you'd hear as a slow dance at an 80s prom, and the other half those dialogue-free montage scenes in a movie where the character is taking a deep introspective dive to begin the reclamation process. Warms me right up!

The Radio Dept.'s music has undoubtedly taken on a dreamlike, "stars twinkling in the sky" aspect since their debut album 16 years ago and 2019 brought the Swedes full circle. September's I Don't Need Love, I've Got My Band fits so seamlessly into the band's repertoire I was initially unaware it was not a new LP but rather two EPs, 2003's Pulling Our Weight and 2005's This Past Week, put together. Skol!