Mon Rayon

Every now and then, a band appears that is so hard to define that the band itself seems entirely unique.
Mon Rayon is exactly that kind of band – somewhere between “a full English breakfast and the Sanremo Music Festival in the 1960s.” Behind the band’s finely tuned arrangements and meticulously composed songs lies a great deal of improvisation and a love of playing together. Now, as Mon Rayon prepare to make their album debut, everything that last year’s EP Post Romantic Stress Disorder was praised for – the tastefulness, melodic sensibility, and gentle grandeur – has blossomed into something that could very well become a future classic.

“Our core idea from the beginning has been that it should feel alive,” explains Josef Ask. “That we play together, that the playing is real. That it should sound organic in some way – that’s probably the idea we’ve embraced most strongly from orchestral pop.”

The duo, which also consists of Christoffer Zetterlund, draws inspiration from a broad palette, where 1960s French pop sits alongside baroque elements such as the harpsichord, sweeping string arrangements, and yes… Göran Fristorp’s performance in Melodifestivalen 1974. The unifying factor is that it has to be “someone singing from the heart.”

“It’s hard to explain to people what you do when they don’t have the same frame of reference as we do,” says Christoffer Zetterlund. “If you say you’re baroque pop, people don’t understand anything. So they label you as an indie band, and that’s that.”

The first single from an upcoming autumn album is One of a Kind, where the band – inspired after accidentally hearing a song by Minnie Riperton – invited Vira Milton to perform as a duet partner. Vira Milton, who has quickly made a name for herself on the Stockholm scene with a strong debut album and sold-out concerts, contributes a deeply soulful voice – “iconic, as if it has always existed,” as Mon Rayon describes it. The duet, like all other Mon Rayon music, was recorded and produced by the band themselves.

One of a Kind is released on May 8 via Flak Records, followed by a debut album later this year.

Photo cred: Lionel Turner