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I'm just mainlining the Cardigans tonight.

I'm still unsure that there's a band that specifically captures the kind of melancholy which is both sad, joyful, and empowered at the same time.

I think Jaya the Cat is the closest I can find - but that's definitely different
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
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Less joyful sad but also that quirky Swedish brand of melancholy: Have you tried Kent?
silverwizard
silverwizard  
Oooh - I've not heard of Kent - I'm going there!
silverwizard
silverwizard  
Yeah - the is one of the cases where my ear damage is 100% holding me back - I need a lot more lyrics forward for good music - since musically just doesn't work for me, and Kent's lyrics (seem to me) to be more to merge into musical motifs, which just sound like soup to me
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
•
Yeah, their lyrics seldom has any clear meaning, it's more of an ambience or a mood.

And I haven't listened to their two English-version albums, so I don't even know how well they managed to translate that.
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
•
Come to think of it I did listen to "If You Were Here" and it immediately annoyed me that they had the line "If you were here, if I was there" when it should have been "If you were here, if I were there" to match the Swedish text's intention. Doesn't bode well for the translations overall.
silverwizard
silverwizard  
Yeah - I think the sound is more important, and I'm very ok with that. But it's definitely a place where I'm gonna continue my Hedonistic Melancholy surge though
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
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Ah, you mean you need to song to stand out more clearly and Kent's messy guitar sound just comes out as noise for you?
silverwizard
silverwizard  
I can't really do that style of music, since, uh, ear damage.

I need strong beats and lyrics, because more complicated musically tracks just don't work for me. I can't distinguish notes because my ear drums are a mass of scar tissue and I've lost huge amounts of cilia to stuff.
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
•
For melancholy sounds and crisp lyrics I can recommend Hellsongs. They sing AC/DC, Iron Maiden and other metal covers in a melancholic and light melodic way, and for me it's usually been the first time I actually heard the lyrics. 🤣
They call it "Lounge Metal". Richard Cheese, Paul Anka and Dick Brave have done that genre too, but Hellsongs do it in that kind of Cardigans, Pomplamoose singer-singwriter way instead of a more Big Band Jazz direction.
clacke at libranet.de is my main
clacke at libranet.de is my main  
•
Thunderstruck and Run to the Hills are my favorites I think.
silverwizard
silverwizard  
I kinda hated Lovefool as a teenager kinda on principle, and, fuck was I wrong
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