ARRIVAL (LTD. EDITION)

Arrival, the debut album from Swedish duo Aasthma, is big, bold, bright and utterly fearless. It™s described by its creators as a larger-than-life šsecular rapture› that sounds like šJustin Bieber meeting up with Rotterdam Terror Corps to do an Abba cover at the Grand Ole Opry.› The byproduct of a friendship, Aasthma is a collaboration between Pär Grindvik and Peder Mannerfelt, best known individually for their exploits in the techno realm. Calling Arrival it a pop album might serve as an effective shorthand, but sonically, it™s a high-fidelity whirlwind, occupying a dazzling soundworld where Top 40 ballads and breakbeat rollers gleefully canoodle with trap bangers, neon-streaked EDM and guttural dancehall. Arrival is absolutely Aasthma™s vision, but it™s not exactly a solo effort. Few acts would dream of enlisting both the sultry melancholy of HTRK vocalist Jonnine Standish (šIt™s Just Your Style›) and the swaggering rhymes of Swedish rapper Silvana Imam (šSoulhack›), but Aasthma did just that and more, lining up what they describe as a šdream mixtape› that includes the talents of Shout Out Louds frontman Adam Olenius (šLights Out›), Equiknoxx co-founder Gavsbourg (šNod›), and glittery pop crooner Casey MQ (š3am›). Mixed by Aasthma together with Johannes Berglund (who™s previously worked with FKA Twigs, The Knife and Fever Ray), Arrival combines technicolor maximalism with the trademark sheen of Scandinavian pop. Tracklisting: A1. Fall Beyond The Sun A2. It™s Just Your Style feat. Jonnine A3. Arrival (Fast Forward Into Love) A4. Lights Out feat. Adam Olenius A5. Nod feat. Gavsborg A6. Hold Back Love B1. Soulhack feat. Silvana Imam B2. One Million Seconds B3. We Will Never Change B4. 3AM feat. Casey MQ B5. Power Ambient Piano Ballad