Johan Reinhold – Shoot Me Down Single Review

The Swedish music scene is currently exporting more artists than Volvo does cars. Little Dragon, Lykke Li, First Aid Kit, Kids and Tallest Man On Earth are just a few who will make Stockholm the place to head for this summer – not to mention death metal heroes Entombed. Johan Reinhold is one of the new bunch. This single sounds like it was written on a summer’s day while gazing upon its natural beauty of the flora and fauna of the country’s Koster Islands, which, funnily enough, it was.

“Mayday, I’ve been shot down/I took a bullet to my heart” the track begins (so retro for one so young and bearded) while the former Swedish Grammy nominee Reinhold excretes a whiff of West Coast hair rock over wailing guitars and plaintiff vibes.

Having electronically moved things up a notch since that industry nod in ’09, Reinhold brings a slow and longing rockiness as a backdrop to a sticky, choral hookline, whilst backed by a lush, deep shagpile carpet of piano, snare, vox and echo.

Keeping up the end for Scandies everywhere, he does use the words “cock” and “shoot”, although purely in the gun-toting sense you understand. He’s also apparently being circled by Sony.

So, if you do end up hanging out with the elegantly wasted in SoFo for those famous short summers where everyone goes a little bit mad and “there’s a good chance of getting laid”, according to Lykke Li, this just could well be your perfect soundtrack.

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