Alpaca Sports

Gothenburg, Sweden-based indie pop outfit Alpaca Sports – which you’re probably acquainted with because of their debut album Sealed With A Kiss and the singles they’ve released so far – have announced the release of their new mini-album, entitled When You Need Me The Most, via the independent Spanish label Elefant Records [pre-order] on October 2nd.

After last week the band unveiled “Just Like Them” the song that opens the upcoming new mini-album, and the bonus track “My Favourite Girlfried” (a cover song of Milkway only present on the digital version of the album), we have now the pleasure of premiere “There’s No One Like You“, another song off of When You Need Me The Most that displays the addictive effect of the band’s music. A tune to warm your heart in these first days of Autumn.  Alpaca Sports’ own Andreas Jonsson was kind enough to write about the meaning behind the track, its origins, and how it ended up sounding as beautiful as it sounds. Read Andreas’ message and then hit play below.

““There’s No One Like You” has been with me for a long time and is one of those songs I’ve always had a special relationship with. The story of the song takes place in a tiny village in Sweden, where I’ve lived many special moments with a person who I grew up with and means a lot to me. It’s about life in the countryside with summer days by the lake, riding a bike for the first time, feeding the horses and cows, playing football in the garden..

Because it meant so much to me, it needed to be done perfectly like I imagined it in my head. I sent the demo to band member Lisle in Chicago and we went back and forth trying out different ideas and instruments, as we did with the rest of the songs, until it felt right. Our wonderful friends Hampus and Julia recorded drums and bass for all the songs at Gary Olson’s studio in New York, then Lisle added guitars, strings and percussion. The finishing touch was in London with producer Ian Catt, who recorded vocals with Amanda and I, added new instruments and was the responsible for the mixing and mastering. He finally gave me that “perfect” feeling I had been imagining for so long. For example in the choruses he helped a lot with backing vocals, arranging harmonies for Amanda. It was so inspiring to record with such a professional like Ian and to see the way he works…And I must say, I drank more tea that week than I’ve had in my whole life! It was a proper “British” experience.

I hope you enjoy this song and the rest of the album as well when it is released on Friday October 2nd!”

When You Need Me The Most  is an “international” album, as its own composers call it, and it makes it clear what an incredible experience Alpaca Sports is proving to be for Andreas Jonsson, Amanda Åkerman and Carl Jirestedt.

First of all, Lisle Mitnik (Tiny Fireflies, Edine Avec Lisle Mitnik Et Son  Orchestre, Fireflies, Very Truly Yours) forms part of the band from his home-base in Chicago; he participates in the songwriting online, which we can hear from his contributions on the guitar, organ, strings, etc. The drums and bass were recorded in New York, in the famous Marlborough Farms studios of Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), who also added some trumpets. The musicians were Julia Rydholm (The Essex Green, Ladybug Transitor) andHampus Öhman-Frölund, the latter already a veteran from their previous recordings.

The album was ultimately recorded and produced by Ian Catt (Trembeling Blue Stars, Shampoo, Saint Etienne) in London, and of course the cover art is straight from Japan byRay Kimura herself.