They Owe Us is head over heels in the swooning single and intoxicating video I’m Your Biggest Fan — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Fresh from the Swedish indie art-pop artist’s new sophomore album Kram, I’m Your Biggest Fan opens with driving drumbeats and clanging cymbals, and then suddenly turns sweet, hazy and melodic, creating a crafty musical metaphor for the sensation of being bowled over by love at first sight and the mellow glow that follows.
“I mean, the title says it all,” he says. “That warm, energized rush you get when you are floored by a person, a place, a song. “I guess you could call it a love letter to one day in May.”
The vibe is fitting — Kristoffer Ragnstam, the man behind They Owe Us, wrote it while watching pumped-up bodybuilders on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. He was broke and a little bit nervous about it — but still determined to have a nice trip. He recorded the acoustic guitar that very night, and cut the rest live with friends back in Sweden. Female vocalist Izhav helped him create the gorgeous harmonies.
The corresponding video caputures a tipsy geisha, dancing alone to the song in a bar after hours. There’s a sense of watching a private, perhaps secret, moment. Yet the camera’s gaze is one of pure acceptance, and the mood of the video’s star one of self-contentment. As the song reaches its end, the geisha walks out of the bar and behind the camera into the backstage production area, pulling back the curtain without breaking character.
Cut mostly live and recorded analog, Kram is the second album from They Owe Us, and follows 2020’s Broken English & Sad Serenades. It’s an amalgam of raw drums, cheeky keyboards, and other sounds borrowed from the record store basement — mainly found in the Do What The Hell You Want section. Ragnstam worked with Anders Rane as a main co-writer and musician, as well as other well-known names such as Timo Räisänen, Andé Laos, Markus Hasselblom, Per Eklund and Klabbe Hörngren (Klabbes Bank). Other contributors include vocalist Adam Bolméus (Hästpojken), Axel Sjöberg (Graveyard), Jennifer Israelsson (Hot Breath), Viktor Turegård (Franska Trion) and Joel Lundberg.
Watch I’m Your Biggest Fan above, listen to Kram below, and become a fan of They Owe Us at his website, Facebook and Instagram.
