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The Mary Onettes

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Location: Torpa, Sweden

Websites:

• http://myspace.com/themaryonettes
• http://themaryonettes.net/

Bio: Mary Onettes launched their career in 2004, and were signed by Stockholm's groundbreaking Labrador Records in 2006 (The Legends, The Radio Dept. and Little Big ... (more) Adventure) , who released the 'Lost' EP in the fall of that year, with the debut album following in 2007. Even though things have been going well for the band, they had their share of misfortune. While recording 'Islands' last year, and with 5-6 songs almost finished, an unlikely series of events occurred - the computer on which they recorded the songs got stolen, and at the same time, the back-up drive broke, which meant they had to start again from the very beginning. As unlucky as it seemed at the time, it was probably a blessing in disguise as 'Islands' might not have turned out quite as amazing as it did if this hadn’t happened! The re-recordings are more lively, and they used more organic instruments like strings, pianos, and children’s choirs than they had originally intended.

The year 2008 was characterized by the deaths of close relatives and friends of Philip Ekström (singer and songwriter of the band) and on 'Islands' he’s put more focus on the lyrics. 'The Disappearance Of My Youth' and 'Cry For Love' were written on his girlfriend’s mother’s estate and most of the songs on the album are highly marked by his time in Stockholm after her death. “The songs are almost too personal and I’ve had a hard time playing them for friends. It’s like all I want to do is keep them to myself.” (Philip). The lyrics are retrospective themes of lost youth, transience and death.

”The title ‘Islands’ came up because I see the tracks on the album as small islands in different shapes and forms where every song is like a record of it’s very own. Johan (Labrador Records) suggested the same title without having heard me mentioning the idea, so that was a coincidence too good not to pursue.” (Philip) (less)