Although most Americans would likely only know of Stockholm, Sweden’s capital and largest city, it’s Umea, Sweden’s third (and most Northern) and Malmo, Sweden’s twelfth (and most Southern) cities that have emerged with reputations for being some of Scandinavia’s most exciting, creative hotbeds as an increasing number of indie artists and bands have started to receive international recognition. Adding to that lengthy and distinguished list, are the Malmo, Sweden-based lo-fi indie rock quintet YAST.
The Southern Swedish quintet can actually trace their origins to when its founding members Carl Kolbaek-Jensen, Tobias Widman and Marcus Norberg met in the steel town Sandviken in 2007 and started writing and playing music in as a way to escape the possibility of a dreary life in even drearier environs. By 2008, the trio of Jensen, Widman and Norberg relocated to Malmo, which over the years has developed a reputation as the home of a burgeoning dream pop and indie rock scene. Some time later, Markus Johansson and Niklas Wennerstrand, who were both members of Aerial were recruited to flesh out the band’s sound.
With the release of their self-titled debut released in 2013, the Swedish quintet started to receive attention both in their native Sweden and internationally, and as a result they’ve opened for renowned psych rock acts including TOY, The Drums, Tame Impala, DIIV — and they’ve made appearances at several large festivals, along with a UK tour, which suggests that the band’s international profile is growing.
The band’s sophomore album, My Dreams Did Finally Come True was released last month through Adrian Recordings and the album’s second single “Together Forever” is comprised of shimming guitar chords played through reverb, swirling and atmospheric synths, four-on-the-floor drumming, a sinuous bass line and a gorgeous guitar solo paired with plaintive vocals to craft a song that swoons with a youthful and urgent Romanticism — while simultaneously managing to sound as though it was recorded during the 120 Minutes era.
The band recently released the official video for the song and the video captures the band in playfully unguarded moments, goofing off and trying to stay warm on what looks like a particularly dreary and chilly day on the beach.
