made records
Tobias Arbo
"Pyre"
SINGLE
After giving us a first taste of his upcoming debut album with his latest single 'Recover', Swedish songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Arbo is throwing out another thoughtfully crafted hymn of hopelesness. Or so it may seem.
"'Pyre' is about being in love with someone in secret, who you know doesn’t love you back the same way", Tobias says about this piece of chill folk pop that offers minimal guitar over a dominant yet restrained drum and synths as warm as the pyre that turned Tobias' heart into a gleaming piece of coal for a moment. "Instead, you pretend to be casual to get to keep being close to that person, since they’d probably pull back out of your life if you disclosed your feelings. And so you’re stuck in that prison, leaving you imploding on the inside. Still, you’d rather be close to that person and suffer, than lose them and move on without them." Ouch.
"Looking back, putting myself in that position also felt like a kind of self-punishment. You want to feel the pain of the unrequited love, because you want to punish yourself for not being good enough for the other person to love you. While there’s also the bittersweetness in how one-sided love in itself is a connection to the person, making it a better alternative than having no connection at all."
What sounds like a total bummer in its deeply melancholic message is foiled by the melody and instrumentation picking up speed and marrow throughout the song. 'Life goes on' is what the soft electronic bedding is trying to whisper into your ear. To be in full control of his artistic vision, Tobias Arbo produced the track together with Linus and Hannes Hasselberg (Plasí, Moonica Mac, Melissa Horn, Cleo), and got it mixed by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Owen, Sylvan Esso, Waxahatchee). Artwork and press pictures were created by photographer Olof Grind (Phoebe Bridgers, boygenius, First Aid Kit, Veronica Maggio).
While his debut EP POWERLINES, released in March 2023, pondered on the topic of forgiveness to oneself and had Tobias Arbo grapple with the question why he out of all people may deserve to put out music (a nonsensical notion a lot of artists can relate to), this first body of work helped him approach his art more candidly. "I guess it’s part of living, it helped me and it had a lot to do with me and my relationship to music." POWERLINES earned him features in Americana (UK), SVT (Sweden's National TV), GAFFA (Scandinavia's leading entertainment print magazine), Bands of Tomorrow (DK), Nöjesguiden (SE) and more, evoking comparisons to the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver or fellow Swede José González. CLASH found the EP was "blending folk aspects with pop tropes", where "each song feels shot through with light."
'Pyre' will be out April 5th 2024 on made records.
"If hope had a theme song, it would likely sound exactly like this.""
CAT#: MADERECS2402
FORMAT: digital single
RELEASE: 05.04.2024
TRACKLIST
01 Pyre (3:13)
AUDIO DOWNLOADS
PHOTO DOWNLOADS
cover artwork
MISC
PREVIOUS RELEASES
CONNECT WITH TOBIAS ARBO
CONTACT
Management
josefine@highdensitygroup.co
Label
Press & Radio
GER melanie.gollin@maderecs.com