Amongst my favorite Swedish bands to emerge within the last couple of years, The Mary Onettes are definitly in the top three. How can you not love their 1980s indie pop revival mixed with that undentifiable Swedish touch? Well, as it turns out, some seem to love it a bit too much. Band member Philip just revealed that last summer someone stole his harddrive containing every song The Mary Onettes had ever recorded. Then a power failure in his building made the backup drive collapse. Talk about bad luck.

Not surprisingly, Philip became quite crestfallen by these setbacks (“I was speechless for days”) and felt that a break was needed. Re-recordings of the second album didn’t start again until late September of last year and even then it still felt like an upwards hill for Philip who’s always been the one to spend the most time in the studio. Thankfully things evened out as the recordings continued and Philip got additional help with the studio work from fellow band member Henrik.

The persistance has now paid off in the form of a new EP called Dare. While the album is still not fully completed, the EP is said to offer us a slight taste of what’s in store. The title track features live strings recorded in a church near the band’s hometown of Jönköping, while the remaining two tracks – “Kicks” and “God Knows I Had Plans” – are leftovers that have finally come to use.

Dare is set to be released on April 29.

~ “Everyday And Today” ~