Alpaca Sports

Sweden's Alpaca Sports craft a sweetly melodic strain of indie pop rooted in gently strummed guitars and tender male/female vocals that evokes the gentler wing of Sarah Records. Following multiple singles and their encouraging first full-length, the 2014 album Sealed with a Kiss, the group inked a deal with Elefant and began productive partnerships with Fireflies and Ladybug Transistor members along with Field Mice/Saint Etienne producer Ian Catt. Those contributions polished already strong material and lent their delicate sound a pleasing summery depth on 2018's From Paris with Love and 2025's Another Day.

Vocalist/guitarist Andreas Jonsson assembled the band in late 2011 after his earlier stint in Bluekicks alongside childhood friend Carl Jirestedt. Jonsson proceeded independently yet enlisted several friends to realize his musical aims, notably Jirestedt and vocalist Amanda Åkerman—who both became regular participants—and producer Kalle von Hall. Their initial release, the 2012 single "Just for Fun," appeared on the Swedish imprint Luxury. That connection endured through further Luxury singles: "She'll Come Back for Indian Summer" and "I Was Running" in 2012, followed in 2013 by "As Long as I Have You," "Telephone," and "He Doesn't Even Like You." Japanese artist Ray Kimura supplied each release with its own distinctive cover artwork. Alpaca Sports steadily raised their profile, captivating classic indie-pop enthusiasts globally through their melodic warmth, and delivered a warmly received performance at the 2013 N.Y.C. Popfest while also appearing at Madrid Popfest and Indietracks. Another single, "Just Like Johnny Marr," surfaced in 2014 ahead of Sealed with a Kiss, which gathered many of those earlier tracks. After moving to Spain's Elefant label, they issued the 2015 mini-LP When You Need Me Most. Fireflies' Lisle Mitnik contributed parts recorded in Chicago, Ladybug Transistor's Gary Olson and Julia Rydholm added theirs from Brooklyn, and Ian Catt handled production at his London studio. The follow-up, 2018's From Paris with Love, followed a comparable path, with early songwriting assistance from Mitnik and drum tracking at Olson's Marlborough Farms studio by session musician Hampus Öhman-Frölund. Åkerman supplied lead vocals for the first time, and the single "Summer Days" ventured into gentle disco territory.

Subsequent years brought familiar personal challenges—health concerns, moves, and bereavements—that pushed music aside. Their late-2024 single "Tomorrow I'll Be Fine" marked a return to the deeply felt, summer-bright indie pop they had long favored and served as the first preview of the January 2025 album Another Day. Mitnik again played a central role, Öhman-Frölund once more handled drums, and Catt oversaw production, while new additions included fellow Elefant artist Cristina Quesada on backing vocals and Catt's daughter Georgie.