Guest Playlist: Hannah Schneider – ‘Sedated Summer Sounds’

Following the beautiful sounds of singles such as ‘Mirror Sphere’ and having charmed our ears as part of duo AyOwA, Danish artist Hannah Schneider has returned with a sparkling new offering. A glistening celestial soundscape, ‘It’s The Season’ reflects on the high expectations of the summer months and the disappointment this can sometimes bring. As Schneider’s rich crystalline vocals float alongside shimmering keys and a dreamy ethereal haze, a truly blissful soundtrack is created, oozing a euphoric, soothing grace.

To celebrate the release of ‘It’s The Season’, Schneider has put together a little playlist of her favourite summer tunes – ‘Sedated Summer Sounds’. Have a listen on Spotify now, read about her song choices below, and make sure you watch the new video for ‘It’s The Season’ at the bottom of the feature.

Masasolo – ‘Really Thought She Loved Me’
My friend Morten Søgaard made this amazing song a few years ago under his moniker Masasolo. I think it’s an absolute classic, leading your mind towards another of my favourite bands…

Tame Impala – ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’
This song, like so many of Tame Impala’s songs, takes me to this otherworldly place, where the wine is free, the days are long, and the people are all carefree and beautiful!

AyOwA – ‘Sommer’
A song from my band AyOwA, which adresses the longing for a summer that never comes. It’s a slow, sedated summer sensation that lingers on after it’s over.

Josephine Philip – ‘She Said’
My label mate and collaborator Josephine Philip makes music that grips you and holds your attention. This song has a beat to die for!

Vera (feat. Okay Kaya) – ‘Falling’
I bow down to this carefree pop banger. And when Okay Kaya starts singing in Swedish I’m just woooowww!

Hannah Schneider (with Christian Balvig, feat. Goss, Jacob Bellens and Josephine Philip) – ‘It’s The Season’
I made this song ’cause I have mixed feelings about summer. The early summer in Scandinavia is such a giant peak of the year. Sometimes we end up waiting for a summer that just never comes, and when it’s finally there, the expectations are so high that we can only be disappointed. To me, midsommer is a melancholic time where every feeling is exaggerated, and the beauty of it all is so breathtaking that it feels like you have to throw all your guards down and just surrender.

Sylvan Esso – ‘Hey Mami’
It’s all about the beat and the carefree melody.

Soleima (feat. Hoodboi) – ‘Breathe’
Daydreaming my summer days away with this one.

Alina Baraz, Galimatias – ‘Fantasy’
If I lived in L.A. and wasn’t such a Scandi, this would be the music I would make.

Patrick Watson, Safia Nolin – ‘Mélancholie’
But then again I am Scandinavian, and the trees don’t reach the stars… I always carry some serious melancholy with me wherever I go, and this song is perfect for that!

Excelsior – ‘Gold Runs’
One of my favourite Danish artists just released this gem of a song!

Liss, Nilüfer Yania – ‘Boys in Movies’
Love this track and the way the chords change.

Jungle – ‘Cherry’
This beat… I mean !!! Love Jungle, and this track is such a vibe!

Anna Roemer,  Ned Ferm – ‘Azure’
Such a beautiful ambient and soulful piece of music for just when the day breaks! You see the azure blue water quietly moving when you hear this music.

ML Buch – ‘Somewhere’
Such a great new track from one of my favourite Danish artists. ML Buch always grabs my attention, and keeps me listening attentively to her every move. 

Quadron – ‘Herfra Hvor Vi Står’
Love this cover of an old ‘70s Danish song – sung by Coco O of Quadron. Just such a moving, slow, beautiful and soulful piece of music. 

Monica Zetterlund – ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’
To end up this playlist I look towards one of my favourite singers of all time – Monica Zetterlund – who captures all the Scandinavian melancholy and long summer nights in her voice.

Massive thanks to Hannah for sharing her ‘Sedated Summer Sounds’ playlist with us! Listen here and watch the new lyric video for her latest single ‘It’s The Season’ here:

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Introducing Interview: Raindear

Having previously charmed our ears with the ethereal grace of 2019’s album Skies To My Name, Swedish artist Raindear has returned with an emotive new single. Reflecting on the theme of self-renewal, ‘Howl’ flows with a swirling majestic splendour, as Raindear’s rich, soulful vocals soar alongside glitchy hooks with a driving, impassioned energy.

To celebrate the release of the new single, we caught up with Raindear to find out what inspires her, her honest opinion on the music industry today and her plans for the next few months. Have a read, and the watch the beautiful new live video for ‘Howl’ at the bottom of this feature!

Hi Raindear! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? 
I’m a Swedish artist and producer mostly known for making monumental and majestic art pop. I’m a sucker for beautiful and unique melodies, and I also love tasty things and to take a little swim. 

Are you able to tell us a bit about how and why you initially started creating music? 
I have always created things. I guess it’s just a natural instinct for people like me. Some people need to create or else they will not feel that anything is meaningful at all. I was also born in a family of professional musicians, so making music was just a normal thing that everyone did. I never had to “discover” it on my own and for that I’m very grateful. 

I love your glitchy, soulful sounds, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
Thank you! That’s a tricky one. I guess Kate Bush would be one of my main ones through the years. I’ve always listened to her, long before she went viral recently. I’ve also grown up with jazz and impressionism (classical music), so I love that too. Other than that I think influences work in mysterious ways. I get influenced by pretty much everything around me – everything I experience goes through my filter and some things stick with me better than other things. I think when music is your whole life it’s hard to pick specific influences since you get influenced every day by just staying alive; you interpret everything you experience through your musical lens and it’s always possible to make something out of it because art is life and life is art. 

You’ve recently released your latest single ‘Howl’. Are you able to tell us a bit about the single? Are there any particular themes running throughout it?
It’s about massive subconscious feelings that every now and then explode out of my chest. I’ve struggled with many kinds of emotions the last couple of years – ‘Howl’ came out of that and made me feel better briefly. 

How do you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the last few years in its treatment of female and queer/LGBTQ+  artists?
I’ve tried to stay positive for so long but I don’t want to fake it anymore, now I want to be real for once. This industry is just incredibly unreasonable, I actually wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. And don’t even get me started on how the industry looks specifically for female and queer/LGBTQ+ artists. Sometimes labels etc pretend that they care about equality, but they definitely don’t. At least not the ones that sit on the money. They care about money and nothing else. Sorry for not bringing too much hope to the table…!

You’re now based in Stockholm – how is the music scene there? Do you feel that the live music community there has fully recovered since the pandemic? 
I think the Stockholm scene is very boring and mostly focused on mainstream pop. I don’t know if the live music scene is fully recovered. In some ways I feel like it is recovered – at least people are excited and out to gigs again. At the same time, the whole system is so broken and the noise is insane. It’s probably harder for the independent ones to get back into some some kind of normality right now. 

And what can fans expect from a Raindear live show? 
Heavy and colourful stuff in every possible way!

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists or bands you’re loving right now that you’d recommend we check out?
My friend Bonander is insanely talented and makes very cool music. 

What does the rest of the year have in store for Raindear?
I’m performing at Rough Trade East on August 31st – come!! I’m also releasing a second single in August. And performing in Montreal in Canada October.

Massive thanks to Raindear for answering our questions! Watch the beautiful new live video for ‘Howl’ here:

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Track Of The Day: Maria Uzor – ‘Winner’ (feat. Emily Winng)

Following last year’s epic debut EP, Innocence and Worldliness, and having captivated us with the euphoric energy of her live show, Maria Uzor (of Sink Ya Teeth) has now shared another taster of her innovative solo material.

Originally released as a vinyl only B-side to ‘Permission’ on Heaven’s Lathe in March this year, ‘Winner‘ was written by Uzor in little more than 24 hours and features her good friend Emily Winng on vocal duties. Building with propulsive, immersive beats and a frenzied, whirring splendour, a swirling, glitchy soundscape is created oozing a dark, deep house allure and thumping techno energy. Racing with a frantic delirium, the track climaxes with the addition of Winng’s rich, soulful vocals, soaring with shades of the danceable drive of Moloko as gritty undertones swell beneath the surface. A majestic summer anthem for all those who like a bit of electro scuzz with their sunshine.

‘Winner’ is accompanied by an entertaining home-made video. With the concept conceived by Winng, and shot by Joel Benjamin, it plays on the meaning of the song title – depicting a mysterious bloody brawl between two friends. Of the video, Winng explains:

“Because of the song title, I thought a fight that continues to different locations throughout the duration could work. Maria and I have been friends for years so it felt totally comfortable getting down and dirty. She’s tough though!”

Uzor adds:

“It was so much fun filming the video… Inspiration came from all over the place; old kung fu flicks, Zombie B-movies, Street-fighter, Adam & The Ants, and definitely a bit of Prison Cell Block H in there too…”


‘Winner’ is out now. And you can get your hands on a limited edition 7″ lathe cut vinyl here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Track Of The Day: The Paranoyds – ‘Lizzie’

Following the release of 2019’s album Carnage Bargain and tracks such as ‘Pet Cemetery’ and last year’s ‘Egg Salad’, and having played alongside bands such as Jack White and Sunflower Bean, LA four-piece, Staz, Laila, Lexi and David – aka The Paranoyds – have now announced the release of their second album, Talk Talk Talk.

Taken from the album, new single ‘Lizzie‘ reflects on the mixed feelings of having a celebrity or otherworldly crush. Propelled by a retro, rockabilly energy, languid vocals flow alongside the whirring fuzz of jangly hooks, creating a scuzzy slice of riot grrrl-infused surf-pop. With its sunny, playful musicality juxtaposed with a racing, swirling drive, it builds with a frenzied allure to a perfectly uplifting summer anthem. Of the track, Lexi from the band explains:

“She’s cute, she’s passionate, she’s dedicated to her art, but there’s this one thing. She’s a walking contradiction. How does she consistently act in roles, where she plays a truth-seeker, a down-to-earth, relatable woman who’s usually trying to escape some sort of oppressive event or oppressive relationship and then in real life be completely bound to a religion with foundations that are essentially a science fiction novel?“

‘Lizzie’ is accompanied by a JJ Stratford-directed, wonderfully quirky new retro-tinged video which sees the band jetting off into space, donning tin foil hats and plenty of sass. Watch it here:

Talk Talk Talk, the upcoming new video from The Paranoyds, is set for release on 9th September via Third Man Records.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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