INTRODUCING: Solence

It’s easy to feel like certain bands blossom out of nowhere, fully formed, or as near to, that their success seems pretty effortless. What’s more interesting is when you can peel back the years of work and see the weight of making music, the push against the grain to create something. SOLENCE, a four piece from Stockholm, have worked tirelessly to produce their debut album Brothers. It’s a record that’s been five years in the making, and the guys have worked incredibly hard to produce their work completely unsigned. We speak with lead singer Markus Vidsäter about making the album, the issues of self-release and what’s in store in the future.

Now that Brothers is out, the obvious first question was if there was there a sense of relief? “Yes, I’d say that it feels like that,” Markus responded honestly. “Also, a relief that we can move on to other stuff. It’s so hard to ‘learn’ being in a band – learn to write songs, produce, mix, whatever. This album really represents that to us. Now it’s more like we know what we’re doing if that makes sense,” he continues, laughing a little. “We can produce and write more freely. That feels good.”

There are elements of CROSSFAITH, PARKWAY DRIVE and PALAYE ROYALE in SOLENCE‘s music, with a bite of hardcore and the emotional depth of pop punk, all overlaid with a healthy dose of synth. It’s got heaps of bounce and energy, often filling the part of us that wants to break a room apart, but commands enough attention to catch you off guard in its softer moments.

The band came together back in 2012, comprising of Markus, drummer David Vikingsson, guitarist David Strääf, and Keyboardist Johan Swärd. The band started gaining fans through their release of various covers, from ED SHEERAN to IMAGINE DRAGONS, making their well-known songs into heavier incarnations. From there they grew more than 22 million streams in various platforms, and continued to write more of their own music. having made everything themselves, without help from a label, it was a slog to get the mammoth task of an album done on their own terms. “We didn’t really have a moment when we put the album together,” Markus explained about the album’s final release. “It’s just been a journey over the past like eight years. The album is all of our singles put together basically. But it felt good to upload them to Spotify!! We drank champagne and felt proud.”

The impact of online success is so common to today’s music industry, and it’s harder and harder to be recognised as a small group without backing of bigger industry heavyweights pushing you forward. The guys are very aware of how much the success of the album is down to an online following that supported them from the very beginning. When asked if they felt that support, the answer was a booming. “YES!” Markus exclaims, very animatedly. “The fans we’ve already had before the album had such a great and positive response, but also this album has helped us gain so many new fans. I’m so grateful for that!”

SOLENCE write very openly and expressively, which is a big part of their growing success, wherein the music and the lyrics tie together to embody a big emotional pay off, be it a thrashing, hi-fi synth bangers or more mellow, brooding tones. The part of all this that brings it together, however, is the journey of the men behind the music. “I love writing from a personal perspective,” Markus tells us. “Writing about how we feel, the struggle; enjoyment; trusting each other, and so on. Some songs are more fictional though, like Heavy Rain or Death Do us Part – It’s more like a feeling.”

It’s not a process that’s always come easy, Markus reflects on. “Breaking the Silence was easy [to write] but Brothers was really hard. The thing we struggle the most with is fitting all the parts together. So, if we have a chorus, trying to find the right verse. Brothers was really hard to put together in that sense. Heaven and Pump More Life [were hard too, but] Heavy Rain was easy.”

While the band are evidently proud of their success in the face of an overwhelming industry that chews up bands and their optimism and spits them out before there’s even been a chance to be discovered, SOLENCE are looking forward to showing their journey in more projects. “I’m really proud over the album but some songs were written over five years ago,” Markus explains. “So, of course we developed and matured as musicians over the course of that timespan. I think the next album we do are going to be much more cohesive. It’s probably going to be easier to get some expectations from that. This feels more like an end to an era. To our youth maybe. Scary shit!!”

As mentioned, SOLENCE have had their material ready to go in small parts for a long time, but with the complete package finally done, they can unleash their fully formed creation on the unsuspecting fans at shows. “We haven’t played the album live yet – but I’m really excited to play Heaven live! I think that is going to be crazy! [We’re really looking forward to] meeting fans and singing the songs together!”

Brothers is out now via self-release.

Like SOLENCE on Facebook.