The Mary Onettes

Formed in Jönköping, Sweden during 2000, the Mary Onettes built their sound around ringing guitars and reverbed vocals. The lineup consisted of Philip Ekström on vocals and guitar, Henrik Ekström on bass, Petter Agurén on guitar, and Simon Fransson on drums. Early industry attempts faltered when an initial record deal collapsed, followed by an EP issued through Sony in spring 2005 and a subsequent split from the label. The group nearly moved ahead with entirely self-released material until a demo reached the Swedish indie imprint Labrador, which put out an EP in 2006 and the band’s self-titled debut album in 2007.

A troubled second-album session brought further setbacks when the hard drive containing all recorded material was stolen and the backup drive then failed, yet Islands still surfaced in late 2009. Philip and Henrik Ekström next paused band activity to launch Det Vackra Livet, a project that retained a comparable sonic approach but featured lyrics sung exclusively in Swedish; Labrador released their self-titled album in 2011. After reuniting with the full lineup and enlisting Dan Lissvik of STUDIO as producer, the Mary Onettes completed Hit the Waves, which appeared in early 2013. Heartened by the outcome, they followed quickly with the Portico EP in early 2014.