The Mary Onettes
Encyclopedia
The Mary Onettes are an indie dream pop
band from Jönköping
, Sweden
, signed to Labrador Records
. To date, the band has released two full-length studio albums and four EPs.
by Philip Ekström (vocals, guitar), his brother Henrik Ekström (bass), Petter Agurén (guitar), and Simon Fransson (drums). The band was drawn together by their common interest in '80s and '90s music, especially with bands such as The Stone Roses
and The Cure
. The band got their first record deal in 2004, but were dropped after only six months without the opportunity to release any recorded material. Columbia
/Sony BMG picked the band up eight months later, and the band released their debut EP Make Me Last in May 2005. Following positive critical reception but muted commercial response, the band found themselves without a label shortly after the EP's release. The Mary Onettes intended to self-release all material thereafter, until Swedish indie pop
label Labrador Records
signed the band months later, and the band established a recording studio in Gothenburg
.
The band's first release on Labrador was the four-song EP Lost, released in November 2006. Pitchfork Media
described the song "Lost" as "start[ing] out a bit New Order
, but it quickly blows up into grand teen-movie hooks that only a grump could find much fault with." The band released their debut full-length studio album The Mary Onettes
in April 2007, drawing generally positive critical acclaim and favorable comparisons to Echo & the Bunnymen
, The Cure
, The Church
, and Shout Out Louds
. Treble magazine, in a highly positive review, described the album as "It may sound a bit on the nostalgic side, though its influences merely melt into a greater whole, in which various sounds meld together in synth-pop ecstasy. The first proper single from the album was "Void," which preceded the album in March 2007. Following extensive touring around Europe, and a brief tour of the United States, the band set out to begin recording their second album. However, according to a post from Philip on the band's official website, "Last summer I basically lost every song I've ever recorded with The Mary Onettes. My hard drive with all my music was stolen in my car one fine afternoon in Stockholm
, the very same fine afternoon we came home from our US tour, the very same day I was feeling thrilled to come home and start the process of finishing our new album. Of course I had made a backup copy on my computer at home. But for some reason a power failure in the building made that hard drive collapse too. Unbelievable. I was speechless for days." The band played the Primavera Sound Festival
in Spain in May 2008, and reconvened in the studio to start the recording process again in September.
The band's Dare EP was released in April 2009. The band recorded the EP in a little studio in Jönköping, and recorded the string arrangements in a church nearby the band's hometown. The EP was intended as a sampler of the upcoming second album, entitled Islands
, which was released on November 4, 2009. The album was preceded by the new single "Puzzles," released on September 30, 2009 as a digital download. Philip said of the album's title: "The title Islands came up because I see the tracks on the album as small islands in different shapes and forms where every song is like a record of it's very own. Johan on Labrador Records suggested the same title without having heard me mentioning the idea, so that was a coincidence too good not to pursue. The songs are almost too personal and I've had a hard time playing them for friends. It's like all I want to do is keep them to myself."
In 2011, Philip and Henrik Ekström founded a new group called Det Vackra Livet
. The band features much of the same sound and influences of The Mary Onettes, but with lyrics sung in Swedish instead of English.
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
band from Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, signed to Labrador Records
Labrador Records
Labrador Records is a Sweden-based record label, specializing in indie pop and twee.-Current:*Acid House Kings*Club 8*Det Vackra Livet*[ingenting]*Johan Hedberg*The Legends*Little Big Adventure*The Mary Onettes*Pallers*Pelle Carlberg...
. To date, the band has released two full-length studio albums and four EPs.
History
The Mary Onettes formed in 2000 in the Swedish town of JönköpingJönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
by Philip Ekström (vocals, guitar), his brother Henrik Ekström (bass), Petter Agurén (guitar), and Simon Fransson (drums). The band was drawn together by their common interest in '80s and '90s music, especially with bands such as The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. The band got their first record deal in 2004, but were dropped after only six months without the opportunity to release any recorded material. Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Sony BMG picked the band up eight months later, and the band released their debut EP Make Me Last in May 2005. Following positive critical reception but muted commercial response, the band found themselves without a label shortly after the EP's release. The Mary Onettes intended to self-release all material thereafter, until Swedish indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
label Labrador Records
Labrador Records
Labrador Records is a Sweden-based record label, specializing in indie pop and twee.-Current:*Acid House Kings*Club 8*Det Vackra Livet*[ingenting]*Johan Hedberg*The Legends*Little Big Adventure*The Mary Onettes*Pallers*Pelle Carlberg...
signed the band months later, and the band established a recording studio in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
The band's first release on Labrador was the four-song EP Lost, released in November 2006. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
described the song "Lost" as "start[ing] out a bit New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, but it quickly blows up into grand teen-movie hooks that only a grump could find much fault with." The band released their debut full-length studio album The Mary Onettes
The Mary Onettes (album)
- Release history :- Credits :* All songs recorded and produced by Philip Ekström, except:** "Pleasure Songs" recorded and produced by Lars Malmros.** "Void" recorded and produced by Philip Ekström and Henrik Ekström....
in April 2007, drawing generally positive critical acclaim and favorable comparisons to Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, and Shout Out Louds
Shout Out Louds
Shout Out Louds are an indie rock band from Stockholm, Sweden.The group has toured with bands such as The Strokes, Kings of Leon, The Magic Numbers, The Rosebuds, The Essex Green, and Johnossi...
. Treble magazine, in a highly positive review, described the album as "It may sound a bit on the nostalgic side, though its influences merely melt into a greater whole, in which various sounds meld together in synth-pop ecstasy. The first proper single from the album was "Void," which preceded the album in March 2007. Following extensive touring around Europe, and a brief tour of the United States, the band set out to begin recording their second album. However, according to a post from Philip on the band's official website, "Last summer I basically lost every song I've ever recorded with The Mary Onettes. My hard drive with all my music was stolen in my car one fine afternoon in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, the very same fine afternoon we came home from our US tour, the very same day I was feeling thrilled to come home and start the process of finishing our new album. Of course I had made a backup copy on my computer at home. But for some reason a power failure in the building made that hard drive collapse too. Unbelievable. I was speechless for days." The band played the Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera Sound Festival
San Miguel Primavera Sound, commonly known as Primavera Sound or simply Primavera, is an annual music festival which takes place in Barcelona, Spain in late May and, in some years, early June...
in Spain in May 2008, and reconvened in the studio to start the recording process again in September.
The band's Dare EP was released in April 2009. The band recorded the EP in a little studio in Jönköping, and recorded the string arrangements in a church nearby the band's hometown. The EP was intended as a sampler of the upcoming second album, entitled Islands
Islands (The Mary Onettes album)
-Release history:-Credits:* All songs produced and recorded by Philip Ekström and Henrik Ekström.* Recorded at the House Arrest Studio, Gothenburg, and Foundland Studio, Jönköping.* Strings on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10 by Karin Hagström and Lina Molander...
, which was released on November 4, 2009. The album was preceded by the new single "Puzzles," released on September 30, 2009 as a digital download. Philip said of the album's title: "The title Islands came up because I see the tracks on the album as small islands in different shapes and forms where every song is like a record of it's very own. Johan on Labrador Records suggested the same title without having heard me mentioning the idea, so that was a coincidence too good not to pursue. The songs are almost too personal and I've had a hard time playing them for friends. It's like all I want to do is keep them to myself."
In 2011, Philip and Henrik Ekström founded a new group called Det Vackra Livet
Det Vackra Livet
Det Vackra Livet are an indie dream pop band from Sweden, signed to Labrador Records. The group's first single "Viljan" was released in early 2011, and a self-titled debut album followed in May of that same year.-History:...
. The band features much of the same sound and influences of The Mary Onettes, but with lyrics sung in Swedish instead of English.
Albums
- The Mary OnettesThe Mary Onettes (album)- Release history :- Credits :* All songs recorded and produced by Philip Ekström, except:** "Pleasure Songs" recorded and produced by Lars Malmros.** "Void" recorded and produced by Philip Ekström and Henrik Ekström....
(25 April 2007)- Labrador Records LAB103
- Released in the US on 4 December 2007
- IslandsIslands (The Mary Onettes album)-Release history:-Credits:* All songs produced and recorded by Philip Ekström and Henrik Ekström.* Recorded at the House Arrest Studio, Gothenburg, and Foundland Studio, Jönköping.* Strings on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10 by Karin Hagström and Lina Molander...
(4 November 2009)- Labrador Records LAB125
- Released in the US on 3 November 2009
Singles & EPs
- Make Me Last EP (May 2005)
- Columbia COL 675869-2
- "Make Me Last" – 3:40
- "Concrete" – 3:17
- "Whatever Gets You Thru the Fear" – 4:41
- "Too Young" – 2:49
- Lost EP (15 November 2006)
- Labrador Records LAB066
- "Lost" – 4:06
- "Explosions" – 3:58
- "What's So Strange?" – 3:18
- "R.U.N." – 3:39
- "Void" single (7 March 2007)
- Labrador Records LAB102
- "Void" – 3:30
- "Everyday and Today" – 4:43
- "Translate" – 4:15
- Dare EP (29 April 2009)
- Labrador Records LAB121
- Released in the US on 16 June 2009
- "Dare" – 3:47
- "Kicks" – 3:49
- "God Knows I Had Plans" – 4:15
- "Puzzles" single (30 September 2009)
- Labrador Records DLAB018, digital download
- "Once I Was Pretty" single (31 March 2010)
- Labrador Records DLAB020, digital download
- "The Night Before the Funeral" single (17 April 2010)
- Labrador Records LAB128, 7" single (Record Store DayRecord Store DayRecord Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
exclusive; limited to 500 copies worldwide) - Available as a digital download on 5 May 2010
- "The Night Before the Funeral" – 3:51
- "The Benefits of Being Young" – 4:03
- Labrador Records LAB128, 7" single (Record Store Day
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Make Me Last" | YouTube | |
| 2007 | "Pleasure Songs" | Petur Mogensen | YouTube |
| "Explosions" | YouTube | ||
| 2010 | "The Night Before the Funeral" | Philip Ekström | Vimeo |