Fredrik

Swedish band Fredrik turned more than a few heads with last year's Trilogi, thanks to its woozy mix of trip-hop and folk, although they have a few new tricks up their sleeves for the follow-up. This translates into something that could sit happily next to the Notwist's Neon Golden in any playlist. Flora takes a little longer to settle down than its predecessor and when it does, it struggles to find any discernible highs and lows. Instead, it maintains one emotion ― melancholy ― beautifully for the duration of the record. This doesn't necessarily translate into mellow, meandering songs, but even those songs suggesting an upward shift in mood deliberately hold back from reaching any kind of climax. This makes for a very cohesive album that's a little too subtle for its own good because without some solid attention and time investment from the listener, it's very easy to overlook all that Flora has to offer.