Music, Style & Culture

First On: Serenades: ‘Multi-Tasking Is Fashion’

We caught up with the pair to talk about their beautifully escapist sound.

Adam Olenius has taken time out of being Shout Out Louds’ frontman to join hands with Markus Krunegard. But don’t dismiss this as some kind of one-off shot in the dark. No sir. The two have combined to form what is one of Sweden’s most promising exports for some time: Serenades. A debut EP, ‘Come Home’ sees the light of day this week, before the pair shoot over to the UK to perform their debut UK shows (details of which are below our chat). DIY caught up with the pair, to talk about their beautifully escapist sound, their effortless ability to switch from one project to another and their penchant for the deep blue sea.

What sets this project apart from Shout Out Louds?
The most noticeable part is that we’re only two. Less fighting but more ego. The music and the way we wrote and produced it very different. Shout Out Louds is built on blood and Serenades on lust.

What made you decide to do something different?
Markus and I wrote the songs a couple of years ago just for fun so this band sort of just grew naturally. It wasn’t really a decision or a plan, but working with new people is always good. Shout Out Louds are far from over, but I found something new that is too good to throw away.

Would you describe it as a side-project or can you see it becoming a full time thing?
It is definitely not a side-project. I am going to spend a lot of time working with Serenades next year and if I we don’t kill each other on tour we will make more records. I have the next SOL album to put out after this but we have worked really hard with the Serenades album so it is important we do it right. Multi tasking is fashion.

The video for ‘Oceans’ is made up of beautiful stock footage of the sea. What made you decide to go for such a simple visual companion to the song?
Our friend Ted Malmros (bass player in Shout Out Louds) had these nice photos from Hawaii and he also got some footage from a diver he knows so we started to play around with that. Our music and especially the lyrics are inspired by nature and travelling and the song is called 'Oceans', ‘nuff said.

What can we expect from the debut album? How does it differ from the ‘Come Home’ EP?
The whole album has got a quite grand sound. Even though if it was mostly Markus and me in the studio. We had a drummer for a day and we used a string composer who had worked with Roxette - you cant go wrong with that. So yes. The EP is a good first glance.

How are you preparing for your first ever shows outside of Scandinavia? Are you nervous at all? It should be one big adventure!
Markus is finishing his Swedish solo album and I’m in the studio recording with Shout Out Louds so we got a lot on our minds. So the Serenades shows are going to be a nice getaway. It is going to be great. It is a start of something new.

SERENADES - Oceans by serenadesofficial

Serenades play their first London shows at the Electricity Showrooms and the Slaughtered Lamb on 22nd and 23rd November respectively. Their new EP 'Come Home' is out now.