Tag: The Background World

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The background world Shares Anthemic “it goes like this”

Skövde, Sweden-based indie outfit The background world was founded by primary songwriters Martin Platan (lead guitar) and Hanna Leijon (vocals) back in 2018. The pair met at a local bar and shortly after meeting, decided to start collaborating on a musical project. As they began amassing a collection of songs, they started playing live shows together. But they quickly began to realize that the material they had written — and had been writing — needed to be further fleshed out to fulfill their vision. The duo first recruited two old friends, who the pair had worked with in different projects over the years, Oscar Hjerpe (guitar) and Mikel Åkerman (drums). The band’s first lineup was completed with the addition of high school friends Edwin Muratovic (bass) and Tove Håkansson (backing vocals).

The band went on to release their debut EP 2022’s, It’s about a band. Paradise takes, Live at NSL, which they followed up with a handful of standalone singles that included 2022’s “Gasoline”/”I love you,” and last year’s “Love ends,” along with a list of others. This early batch of material saw the band crafting songs that thematically touched upon addiction, mental health, the search for something better and just the simple things in everyday life.

Since then, the band has gone through a massive lineup change — with the band currently as a trio featuring founding members Platan (guitar, bass), Leijon (vocals, keys) and Marcus Helmner (keys). They’re currently working on their highly anticipated full-length debut, which will feature “Why” and “Love ends,” a lived-in anthem about the dissolution of a relationship that’s slowly petering out to its embittering and inevitable breakup. Sonically, the song brought Til Tuesday‘s “Voices Carry” and Vancouver-based JOVM mainstays FRANKIIE to mind.

The forthcoming album will also feature the Swedish outfit’s latest single “It goes like this,” features what may arguably be the most anthemic hooks and choruses of the band’s growing catalog paired with a earnest, plaintive vocal and a crafted, classic shoegaze-meets-dream pop-meets college radio arrangement. But underneath the shimmering guitars and rousing chorus is a proudly defiant song.

The accompanying video for “It goes like this” features a super saturated VHS-styled visual that follows a woman dressed in white in a forest named
“Paradise.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sweden’s The Background World Shares Heartbreaking “Love Ends”

Skövde, Sweden-based indie outfit The Background World was founded by primary songwriters Martin Platan (lead guitar0 and Hanna Leijon (vocals) back in 2017. As the duo quickly began to amass a collection of songs, they started playing live shows together. But they realized that the material they had been writing, needed to be further fleshed out to fulfill their vision. Platan and Leijon first recruited Marcus Helmmer (keys). They then recruited Oscar Hjerpe (guitar) and Mikel Åkerman (drums) old friends, who the band’s founding members had collaborated with in several different projects over the years. The last additions to the band were high school friends Edwin Muratovic (bass) and Tove Håkansson (backing vocal).

As a newly-minted septet, The Background World recorded a live session on YouTube and a live EP, which was released on all the DSPs. Whether as a duo or as a septet, the band’s material thematically touches upon addition, mental health, searching for something better and even just the simple things in everyday life.

The members of The Background World are working on their full-length debut, which will feature last year’s “Why” and the Swedish band’s latest single “Love Ends.” Built around shimmering guitars, Leijon’s achingly plaintive vocals and enormous hooks and choruses, the new single is a lived-in anthem about the heartache of being in a relationship that’s petering to an inevitable breakup that sonically recalls Til Tuesday‘s “Voices Carry” and JOVM mainstays FRANKIIE.

Directed by Oskar Andersson, the accompanying video for “Love Ends” stars the band’s primary songwriting pair as a couple on the verve of a disastrous and heart-wrenching breakup: Platan’s character is a catatonic and disinterested. And at points, if you pay close attention, you see Platan blink in and then out of the frame. Leijon’s character is desperately trying to hold on to the relationship — and perhaps her own sanity. Is their relationship real or a simulation? That’s up to you to decide. The video ends with Leijoin’s character noticing something being off, waking up to see that her man has left her in the middle of the night. But the video pulls out into her real world, suggesting that her video game and life have imitated each other.