First things first: Abstract Crimewave are not a new band. Joakim Åhlund and Björn Yttling have been making music together for over a decade, and their latest record The Longest Night is their third together, following on from Phantom Island in 2022 and their debut, 2012’s A Flash in the Night. Then, though, they were called Smile, and it was only after they finished work on this scintillating third record that they realised a change of identity might be a good idea. It was perhaps unsurprising that nearly a decade passed between their first and second albums; after all, the pair both have many musical irons in the fire. Åhlund is a legend of the Swedish underground, somebody who has played in bands including Teddybears, Caesars and Les Big Byrd and is a producer of international renown, having written for and produced the likes of Robyn, Charli XCX and Giorgio Moroder. Yttling, too, has a vastly impressive resume; he is the Bjorn in Stockholm indie pop stalwarts Peter Bjorn and John, and has produced and written for Lykke Li, Primal Scream and Nekocase, among many others. The pair worked together on other projects after A Flash in the Night, but it wasn’t until Phantom Island that they triumphantly revived the band that is now Abstract Crimewave, and realised that they shouldn’t leave it so long again next time. Their latest album The Longest Night, released in October of 2024, is a record that streamlines the ethos of this band and boils it down to its purest essence; this is the sound of Åhlund and Yttling paying tribute to the many different styles of music they love.
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