"Highly original” – NME
“Outlines are blurred between post-punk, rave and a very modern psychedelia; brushing between textures and emotions with skilful subtlety” – The Fly
“High quality, immersive, hypnotic music that surrounds and envelopes you” – Loud & Quiet
Previously the solo moniker of Swedish musician Hannes Norrvide, Lust For Youth have expanded into a three-piece band and announce news of their new album ‘International’, which is set for release on June 9th via Sacred Bones Records.
The first single ‘Epoetin Alfa’ is available to stream online now. It showcases just how much Lust For Youth’s sound has transformed since their last release, bringing a more upbeat 80s synth-pop vibe with it. Complete with a guest appearance from Elias Bender Rønnenfelt of Iceage on guitar, the overall feel to this track is undeniably catchy and effortlessly charming.
To put it bluntly, Lust For Youth’s ‘International’ is unrecognisable as a Lust For Youth record on first listen. Frontman Hannes Norrvide’s previous solo albums under the Lust for Youth moniker have been described as “dark, cold, atonal, tormented, lonely, and lower than lo-fi.” The approach on ‘International’has shifted dramatically. Writing as a three-piece now, with longtime live collaborator Loke Rahbek and new band member Malthe Fisher, who produces and plays guitar, LFY have entered a completely new territory. The result is stunning. ‘International’ is a buoyant synth masterpiece in the vein of earlyDepeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Norrvide’s work has always had pop sensibilities buried deep in the reverb, but the hooks are front and center on International, and there is nothing lo-fi about it.
That is not to say the record is without substance. There are still some deeply introspective moments as well, notably the instrumental passages ‘Ultras’ and ‘Basorexia’, which evoke the morning-after loneliness that a lot of earlier LFY work has explored. According to Rahbek, “the record sort of happened by chance. Hannes and I had talked about recording some stuff together for the fun of it, and Malthe offered to help us record. Initially, we were just going to do a song or two for the fun of it, but within a few weeks it was obvious that it was a combination that worked. Malthe went from recording to joining within the first few days and we made the whole thing over the last half-year, drinking gin and tonics everyday in the studio. The period was strange, terrible things happened in everyone’s life outside of the studio, so as a result many hours were spent in the studio, like a safe zone.”
“As the title indicates,” Rahbek adds, “the record deals with the rootless, sometimes almost inhuman, nature of traveling and touring. Hotel rooms and strangers' beds, drugs and clubs, and the impossibility of living a regular life.” It may be an irregular life, but nothing could suit them better; International is Norrvide’s magnum opus, and with Fisher’s production and Rahbek’s co-writing skills, the potential this band has always shown has been gloriously realised.
‘International’ will be available on CD and LP (white vinyl in the UK and EU only), and the LP comes with a download remix EP featuring reworks of LFY tracks by Chelsea Wolfe, Silent Servant, Total Control, Helm& Cult of Youth amongst others. The digital remix EP will also be available as a deluxe digital version of the album.
Live dates to be announced soon.
Album tracklist:
- Epoetin Alfa
- Illume
- Ultras
- New Boys
- Lungomare
- Armida
- After Touch
- Basorexia
- Running
Album artwork:
SOCIAL MEDIA
Lust for Youth Facebook
Sacred Bones website