7/10

While unknown outside of Sweden, Deportees have long been both a critical and commercial success in their native country. Over five distinctly different albums, Deportees have won audience and acclaim for their constant creativity and seasonal reinvention. Their most recent album, ‘The Big Sleep’ (2015) was awarded the Swedish Grammy for Best Rock Album; an award the band had also picked up for their previous long-player ‘Islands & Shores’. Ahead of an album due in autumn, the band has turned their attention to the UK. Lucky us!

Last week, Deportees returned with a highly anticipated five-track EP, ‘Re-dreaming’. This new body of work was produced by Pontus Winnberg, Johannes Berglund and Måns Lundberg, and uses nuanced changes in mood to express its message with focus and conviction. From the ambient opening of ‘Bright Eyes’ to the racing rhythm of ‘Time Is The Tiger’ and the moving melancholy of ‘Patterns’, ‘Re-dreaming’ ponders the potential of an uncertain future.

As the band explains, “‘Re-dreaming’ is a loving assault on the feeling of a lost future. Not because it’s necessarily a false prophecy, but because it’s a dangerous one.” With a theme so pronounced and profound, the EP runs the risk of being one-dimensional – a possibility that Deportees triumph over with finesse.