Luke Slater

‘Tonight I Have To Leave It’ is brimming with the type of indie pop gaiety that the Scandinavians have done so brilliantly in recent years (Peter, Bjorn and John and The Concretes to name but two). ‘Tonight I Have To Leave It’ does, however, bear more than a passing resemblance to The Cure’s ‘In Between Days’ which extends past the fact that both are upbeat acoustic guitar driven laments. Even the brief drum roll introductions are amazingly alike and lead man Adam Olenius could well be the Swedish Robert Smith.

A frenetically struck cowbell which induces the odd foot tap and constant head bob makes an appearance in this, an upbeat lead single off their sophomore LP ‘Our Ill Wills’. Thankfully, the so-familiar keyboard on ‘In Between Days’ is replaced with some subtle synth strings (though the likeness remains), which leaves this sounding more like an updated version rather than a straight-up pastiche. Despite the overwhelming obstacle of originality, ‘Tonight I Have To Leave It’ leaves a pleasantly sweet aftertaste.

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