Sometimes I find out about new music through the oddest methods. Today I discovered an EP by a Swedish duo released four years ago all through a person adding a photo of mine to their favorites list on Flickr.com. Follow me for a minute.
An apparently really great guy, Andreas Sundgren, marked a photo of mine as one of his favorites on Flickr, allowing him to easily come back to it if he ever chooses to do so. When I saw this I looked at his profile and noticed he is Swedish, but lives in Montreal and is co-founder of creative agency Svenska. A section of the Svenska website is devoted to Scandinavian music and artists Svenska promotes in North America. Looking deeper, I was led to The Swedish Model, a collective of seven Swedish record labels that produce a newsletter and jointly promote releases. One of the participating record labels is the fantastically named Songs I Wish I Had Written. Their website has samples of their artists and that's how I was introduced to Gentle Touch.
Right away I must confess I'm not crazy about the name Gentle Touch. It sounds too...something. Make of it what you will. But I can live with a name for music like this! Granted, at the end of the day this is simple pop music, but is so well executed one can easily dive in and ignore any initial misgivings. Sounding like the best of some of the '80s synth-pop groups with a bit more guitar, Gentle Touch combine elements so many of us remember fondly from that era and package it into something recognizable and familar, yet not sounding completely derivative.
Gentle Touch's MySpace page lists all the influences I would expect for a group like this: Red House Painters, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Savage, Clan Of Xymox, Julee Cruise, Book Of Love, Cocteau Twins. I also hear a bit of New Order mixed with the Xymox. There's something from The Railway Children (maybe just a little bit). Honestly, a lot of it reminds me of little-known New Order side-project The Other Two, but that's certainly not a bad thing.
In any case, it's good stuff. Both songs below sound start off a bit beat-oriented, especially 'Smedby', but soon incorporate floating keyboards and soothing guitars to take the edge off. The Gentle Touch EP was released in February 2006. The debut full-length, In Memory of Savannah, followed in March 2008, also on the Songs I Wish I Had Written label. I just wish I had discovered Gentle Touch four years ago.
This video is for Gentle Touch's 'Expectations,' the lead track from In Memory of Savannah. The sound isn't great, but gives an idea of the band in action. You can also download songs from the Songs I Wish I Had Written website.
