Sweden has birthed yet another outstanding rock outfit. From Lykke Li to ABBA to The Tallest Man on Earth, there’s quite a diversified list of talent. Now the focus is on The Amazing. American ears are getting nothing less than ’60s gold with this folk rock “super group.” The Amazing features guitarist Reine Fiske (Dungen), drummer Johan Holmegard (Dunger and Life on Earth!), singer Christoffer Gunrup (Granada), and Fredrik Swahn (Anna Järvinen).
The powerhouse of a band takes a blend of loose jam sessions and unifies them with jazzy ties and alluring vocals. In the first few moments of “Flashlight,” we get a healthy waft of Nick Drake from Fiske’s eloquent axe patterning. A flute then wraps itself around the guitar, introducing a balanced conversation between woodwind and string. Yet the song wouldn’t get its psychedelic genre title without Gunrop’s injection of mellow, somehow California-sounding stream of vocals.
“Flashlight” is from The Amazing’s third album, Gentle Stream. Their first and second albums, The Amazing and Waiting for a Light to Come, both deliver something different, with songs varying from jazz to psychedelia to indie folk. Authentic, classic folk music is apparently buried in the soil of Sweden, a country that has consistently been putting out what America has lacked for decades.