made records

Tobias Arbo

"Quaker Gun"

Swedish songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Arbo releases another single from his upcoming album 'Yellow Woods'.

'Quaker Gun' is another beautiful sonic offering from Tobias Arbo, and this delicate chanber pop tune he opens up about his inner fears and how anxiety very often are rooted in imaginary threats."‘Quaker guns’ were used as a deception tactic during the 18th/19th century to scare off enemies. Though resembling real cannons, they were, in fact, just black-painted logs. When I go through rough patches, I tend to fill my world with Quaker guns, seeing threats that aren’t really there. Like a child imagining a monster under the bed, too scared to look and realize it isn’t there. Writing this song has been a way for me to try to change that pattern."

Tobias Arbo's first full length album, YELLOW WOODS, is scheduled for release August 30th.

Album and single were produced together with Linus and Hannes Hasselberg (Plasí, Moonica Mac, Melissa Horn, Cleo), and 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."