Kolonien
Live@House of Sweden, Washington DC (2022)
Press by Olof Grind
  • country:Sweden
  • style(s):Folk, Roots
  • label:Cumbancha / Putumayo
  • type:Quartet
  • gender:male, female
  • instrumentation:vocal, percussion, string, guitar
  • artist posted by:Kolonien

Line up

  • Anna Möller  (Violins/Vocal)
  • Arvid Rask (Guitar/Vocals)
  • Erik Rask (Bas/Vocals)
  • Mischa Grind  (Percussion/Vocals)

Links

A four-member family band from Sweden that has been one of the leading voices of the Swedish folk revival for over a decade. With a sound that blends acoustic roots music with anthemic, sing-along pop, Kolonien has a fresh, appealing sound that brings multiple musical worlds together.

"It's a wonderfully uplifting album. As invigorating as a cold, sunny, Swedish morning, Kolonien have the freshness of The Cardigans' early albums while at the same time sounding something like a Nordic Fleet Foxes."
- Songlines (UK)

Kolonien is a four-member family band from Sweden that has been one of the leading voices of the Swedish folk revival for over a decade. With a sound that blends acoustic roots music with anthemic, sing-along pop, Kolonien has a fresh, appealing sound that brings multiple musical worlds together.

Kolonien's lush vocal harmonies are reminiscent of Fleet Foxes, their Nordic folk-pop sound might remind some listeners of Of Monsters and Men, and their hipsters with strings vibe makes them Sweden's answer to Mumford & Sons. At the same time, Kolonien's music and inspirations are deeply rooted in the Swedish folk tradition as well as the natural environment and progressive philosophies of the alternative-lifestyle community where they were raised.

Kolonien is made up of brothers Erik and Arvid Rask, their cousin Anna Möller and their childhood neighbor, and “brother from another mother,” Mischa Grind. The members of the band were raised in and around Järna, a community south of Stockholm that is known as a back-to-the-land destination for hippies, progressives and people seeking an alternative lifestyle. While they had been making music together since childhood, the band formally came together during a music festival in Tanzania in 2010. Since then, they have toured extensively across the world and released a number of well-received albums and EPs.