Dear Euphoria is the musical alias of Elina Johansson in close collaboration with the producer and steady band member Sven Johansson (though having the same surname, they’re not related). The new EP This night will flee catches up the angstridden feeling from last year’s gloomy LP Heal My Violence, and turns it into a sigh of hope, even almost closing in to happiness.
Sounding more homogenic than ever, with a minimalistic nerv and a rough edge, this EP adds a new side to Dear Euphoria’s music. Elina and Sven have both deepen their expression and widen the sounds. The new songs’ noticeably increased “pop-catchiness” nods both to sound of the 80’s and onto contemporary indie stuff such as The XX, Joanna Newsome, The National and Loney, dear. Still, they never lose Elina Johansson’s own patented way of quirky singing and songwriting and Sven’s complex arrangements, mixing acoustic and synthetic elements. The EP features the hymnlike titletrack This night will flee, the epic pop songs Coming Down and Rescue, and the electronic rnb-hybrid No More Time To Weep.
Dear Euphoria’s debut album For everything of worth came out in Sweden in 2005 and was thereafter picked up by the British record label Stereo Test Kit who relased the debut in an enhanced version in 2007. In the process of recording the next album Heal My Violence, Dear Euphoria and STK decided to go separate ways and the album was instead released on Elina’s own label Given Productions in March 2009. ‘Heal My Violence’ is very much a conspicious blend of just about everything out in left field; dear euphoria, neo-classic music, avantgarde, scandinavian folk and more. In a musical climate demanding for labelling, Elina has made exactly the difficulties to easy decide Dear Euphoria’s genre into her multifarious music’s greatest asset.
Both Dear Euphoria’s albums have gathered an indie following in music blogs and media mostly outside Dear Euphoria’s home country Sweden, and have been followed by European tours, such as in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.| |
