Swedish Shooting Stars Grapell Cut Loose With Swaggering, Soulful ‘Money’

After the ‘Crier’ album last year, the Swedish duo are back with a brand new EP – We’ve got the first listen of the blues-troubadour charm of their new single as well as a short Q&A with the guys.

6 years ago

by Austin Maloney

Swedish duo Grapell (Emil Erstrand, Nils Nygårdh) released their debut album Crier last year, a record that established them as Sweden’s primary purveyors of slick, cowboy soul rock music. A tender, open-hearted winter single, Snowflakes, followed that record as a kind of postscript, and now they’re back with a follow-up. A new EP, Sucker, is out in December, and we’ve got the first listen of the first single, Money, for you right here today.

Money wears its louche, lazy groove lightly, with a crackling guitar line and woozy organs gradually sashaying the song into its rhythm. Musically, it’s a gorgeous blend of rock, country and outlaw gospel and that gives Erstand the platform to stretch his wings vocally. He’s a performative singer, with the ability and range to really dominate the song, and his vocal charisma fills the song with soul and heart. There’s a little more rock’n’roll swagger to this song than some of their other work, that gives it a bluesy, troubadour charm. Check it and a Q’n’A with the band out below.

Ok, introduce us to your new single.

Money was born from a guitar riff. It’s a love song about the feeling of affording anything, although you may not have that much money.

When did the writing process for Money and the songs on the new EP start?

All the songs on the EP were written over an one-year-period. Although I wrote a lot of other stuff during this period too, these songs seemed to belong together somehow.

There’s a more rocky, exuberant sound to this single, maybe more so than on Crier. Do you think it’s an indicator of where your sound is headed on the new release?

Yes! The songs on Sucker are bit more ‘dirty’ than the ones on Crier. They sound more like they’re played by five guys in a room. I think if you compare the album covers of Sucker and Crier, you understand the difference in sound. Crier is more of a rose bush, while Sucker is a wild forest.

It’s part of your new EP, Sucker. Does Sucker mark the start of a new, post-Crier era for Grapell?

Maybe, or maybe it’s just a little detour. Only future can tell!

And finally, tell us a little about Sucker. Does the title indicate that it’s maybe a little more cynical thematically than the romantic Crier?

Sucker is kind of an update about a year after Crier. If Crier was about romantic love, break-up and things like that, the songs on Sucker are more about when you’ve come full circle. Both when it comes to love but also life and existence in general. The feeling that it’s not the first time you’re here – maybe you’ll be a sucker for the same things forever. And how that can be both a heavy and a liberating insight.

Money is out on November 9 on Strangers Candy. Grapell’s new EP Sucker lands on December 7.