Swedish Band Leiah Reform After 20 years to Put Out First Great Album of 2023

4.7 stars out of 5

I have been patiently waiting on an album to catch my attention in the new year, and then I got an email from a band called Leiah out of Sweden who have just put out an album after 20 years of being on hiatus.

The new album is called Endless and in reality, it feels like an album that is way ahead of its time.

(Leiah is David Lehnberg - vocals and guitar, Thomas Österberg - guitar, Anders Gustavsson - bass, Gunnar Forsman - drums)

The band sent over some pretty informative materials that explained how they didn’t want to leave what legacy they had behind without giving their music a proper treatment that they couldn’t produce in their younger years.

Well, I can say that they absolutely did a great service to their music by putting their efforts into this album.

Sonically, it is akin to being immersed in a cave and having soundwaves bombard you in every direction to make a symphony of crashing and flowing noise that create an atmosphere of chaotic calm.

I was immediately blown away by the overall sound of the album.

The first song called “Teeth” sort of eases into things with a swathy sound that creates a sombre ambience that jumps in and out while putting an uptempo beat together and a rocking chorus to catch your attention.

By far my favorite track on the album is “You’re Something I’m Not” as it is both a cascade of energy and sound, but it also has a bit of a Jimmy Eat World-esque rock vibe to it that makes it both technically great and still accessible to an average listener.

If I understand the gist of the song, it seems to be about a betrayal in the relationship, and the music video seems to confirm it which makes the overall tone even more passionate then you might assume from just giving it a quick listen.

Their other two singles are also bangers, and I think this might be the first time in the history of rock music that a band chose probably their three BEST songs to be released as singles. I feel like that never happens.

With the song, “I Do” which is the first single off the album, it is just a great song in every way, and the CGI music video that accompanies it creates the visual feeling you get when listening to the music without displaying any storytelling aspects of the song to allow you to create a bit of interpretation on your own part.

Then there is the straightforward rock song “The Deserter” which is a bit of an outlier on the album in the sense that it isn’t overly complicated, but it gets right to the point and rocks from start to finish.

If I could compare this band to any other bands, it might be something like a cross between Explosions in the Sky mashed with Bleachers or Jimmy Eat World (as mentioned above).

I find it fascinating that a band from Sweden can create a rock sound like this, but it also kinda makes sense too.

A lot of UK and US bands are sort of told they have to stay within a genre if they want to be “marketable.” If you aren’t worried about being a best-selling band, then you are free to create whatever it is that you want to create.

That seems to be exactly Leiah has done on this album, and it is absolutely compelling to listen to.

I can already tell this is going to be one of my top albums of the year even though it is only the second week of January.