Country: Norway
Much as midwest emo has become subgenre in itself, groups like Bergen, Norway’s Neighboring Sounds are helping to develop the Scandinavian emo scene with a host of various influences and a strong dose of melancholy.
Singles like “Holiday Palaces” has the melodic churn of early Jimmy Eat World, with an emotional intensity that is completely fearless. “Polis” boils with dark, punk undertones – the kind you might expect from a band living in a country with rain 276 days a year.
Tracks like “No Commons” will bring you back to the early 2000s, when emo bands were recording their music raw, without tons of auto-tuning or digital enhancements. It’s clear this is music written by adults, with years of experience, wisdom and pain fueling their music, and not a desire to spew out teenage angst. As they sing in “Everyone’s From Somewhere Else”; “I was once like you are now” – they’re singing to the young emo’s out there, acting as proof that they too can age gracefully.
Listen to a couple of Neighboring Sounds’ great tracks in our World Watch Playlist!
The Indy Review 