Barusta

In spring 1998 the EP The Game appeared, instantly marking Barusta as the music press’s most exciting new act of the year. Months afterward the single “Satellite” received heavy radio rotation and carried the group’s name well beyond critical circles. When Evolution reached stores in November, expectations had swelled to a point where disappointment seemed inevitable, yet reviewers still hailed the debut album as outstanding. The track “Satellite” evoked the Stooges if they had recruited capable players and substituted a female vocalist for Iggy Pop, while the remainder of the record turned more introspective and wove electronic textures into its guitars and organs. Micke Herrström served as producer on every cut except one, which Ebbot Lundberg of Soundtrack of Our Lives oversaw. Trumpeter Goran Kajfes, already widely recognized, also guested on the sessions. The group took its name from singer Nathalie Barusta, a designer who had performed with the Sirens until illness forced her to stop; she then joined her friend Carl Larsson, formerly of Honey Is Cool, to launch the band. Guitarist Niclas Löfgren and drummer Anders Göransson completed the original roster. After the debut’s strong reception, Carl Larsson withdrew from Honey Is Cool to focus exclusively on Barusta, and in 1999 the group played nearly every festival across Sweden. During the next two years the members stayed largely out of view, the sole notable exception being Löfgren’s project with Silverbullit’s Jon Ölmeskog, an endeavor inspired by Make Up.