Last month, Stockholm’s Speedway announced their debut album ‘A Life’s Refrain’, set for release April 11th through Revelation Records. Recorded in Örebro at Fascination Street Studio, co-produced by the band alongside Title Fight’s Ned and Ben Russin, with mixing and mastering by Arthur Rizk (Fucked Up, Power Trip), the album is a thrilling explosion of untamed energy. Having shared the melodic yet fast-paced ‘Permission To Dream’, featuring Ekulu’s Chris Wilson, Speedway now unleash ‘Passion Play’. The guitar-driven single emerges as one of the album’s standout tracks, seamlessly blending the intensity of hardcore with a touch of ’70s rock and tambourines. Shout along lyrics yearn to be piled along to while shifting bass lines and an electrifying guitar solo bring an exhilarating dynamic.
The tracks on ‘A Life’s Refrain’ are rooted in the spirit of 80s youth crew, yet refuse to be confined by its boundaries, evolving into a distinctive hybrid that evokes everything from Youth Of Today, ‘Victim In Pain’-era Agnostic Front, to Iron Maiden’s ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’. In addition to Ekulu’s Chris Wilson, Viagra Boys’ Sebastian Murphy features on ‘Solitaire’ with Title Fight and Glitterer’s Ned Russin lending his pipes to ‘Day By Day’. Following two EPs, a live cassette, tours and gigs across Europe, ‘A Life’s Refrain’ embodies everything Speedway has accomplished up to this point, only better, more focused, and imbued with a sense of rebirth that resonates from the first riff to Larsson’s closing lyrics: “Sought courage in despair. In songs that pierce the midnight air”. Bursting with lightning-fast guitar riffs, captivating songwriting, and a stroke of melancholy, this album is poised to become a landmark in Swedish hardcore and beyond.
‘A Life’s Refrain’ tracklist:
01. Thin Air
02. Day By Day (feat. Ned Russin)
03. Sanctified
04. Permission To Dream (feat. Chris Wilson)
5. Passion Play
06. Walls Of Ire
07. In Shadows Deep
08. Ascension
09. Touch
10. Solitaire (feat. Sebastian Murphy)
11. Another Life
12. Tomorrow Once More
