Info about Love in October
Text from: http://www.planetarygroup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=311
They say modern day Renaissance folk are simply multi-talented. For Love in October, The Musik Group's Minneapolis- based movers and shakers, they transcend what it means to have their fingers in a little bit of everything. Their debut full- length, Pontus, The Devil, and Me, is set to be unleashed January 22, 2008, and showcases LiO's ability to diversify all the subgenres found in pop.
"It doesn't bother me to say that we're a Swedish pop rock band," says frontman Erik Widman. "Actually it bothers me more to be called a ‘band' because that limits you to the scope of music. I see Love in October venturing into other artistic areas over the years. I want us to be known as creators, not musicians."
Love in October brings more than music to the table, as the band dabbles in visual arts, constantly producing light-hearted short films, as well as elaborate music videos. With the acclaimed independent release of "A Day in the Life Of," the band has set the bar high for their next two music videos, currently in production.
Native Swedish brothers, Erik and Kent Widman, formed LiO in the summer of 2006 and quickly released a snappy six-song EP recorded by Ed Rose, which went on to receive national radio airplay and glowing reviews. The lineup has evolved over time and now also includes guitarist Charlie Abbott and Chresten Hyde on drums. .
The name of the debut full-length album, Pontus, The Devil, and Me, was chosen to reflect the schizophrenic nature of the songs. "We noticed that there was a real contrast from song to song, and that they basically fell into three categories," says Erik. "A – songs that tell a story about somebody or something (Pontus); B – Fast angry dark songs reflecting the bipolar nature of humans (the devil); and personal songs (me)."
A myriad of songs comprise Pontus, The Devil, and Me, from poppy tracks about growing up in Sweden ("Circa 1989") to a chaotic instrumental melody of thought ("An Average Idea") to an ode to vagabond lovers ("Song 11").
The track "Vi Går till Stranden" is completely in Swedish – a first for the band. "I like the fact that we can make a multilingual CD and get away with it. Not many bands can do that," says Erik. "I also like that only Swedish people can understand it. It's kind of nice to write something to someone, and it's all the more special when it's made just for them and no one else can understand it."
With Pontus, The Devil, and Me, LiO has painted the picture of life complete with love, sadness and the awkwardness that falls between.
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Text (album review) from: http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=51547344
The debut LP from this Minneapolis-based four-piece is soaked through with sharp, single-string guitar lines, bouncy keys and large, overstated choruses. Too blithe to be punk and too edgy to be power-pop, their songs reside somewhere between Blink-182 and the New Pornographers—that is to say, inconsistent, but maddeningly catchy. Swedish-born brothers Erik and Kent Widman started the band a little over a year ago and quickly released a six-song EP. Their exuberance is everywhere in the music and not just because, of these eleven-tracks, only three clock in above three-minutes. On songs like "A Day In The Life Of" and "An Average Idea," they pursue their ideas as if the song might slip away from them should they give it a chance. Spiny electric guitars chase after galloping Moog riffs and four-plucks-a-second bass lines. And though every track smacks of meter, they never comes off as rushed. There are a couple of throwaways here, mostly towards the end of the album, but nothing fatal. It's essentially a record you'll recognize instantly, but enjoy all the more for that reason.
