Makthaverskan – Glass and Bones

Formed in 2008, Gothenburg’s Makthaverskan—a Swedish word for a female holding power—released four acclaimed full-lengths for the venerable Run For Cover label between 2009 and 2021. Glass and Bones, their fifth album, marks the start of a new chapter for the quintet with fellow Göteborgare Welfare Sounds & Records.

Makthaverskan are commonly described as a punk or post-punk outfit, but their sound is much harder to pin down, featuring elements of jangle, power pop, goth rock, C86, shoegaze, and dream pop. Effervescent lead single “Pity Party” compresses all of these elements into three and a half minutes of transcendent bliss. In my mid-forties, it’s rare for music to ambush me with this level of intensity—I’m normally way too circumspect to keep hitting “repeat” like a smitten teenager, and yet “Pity Party” has me doing just that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the single of the year so far.

It also sets the bar incredibly high for the rest of Glass and Bones.

But while wide-eyed debutants might crumble under the pressure, Makthaverskan complement their incendiary opening track with a suite of songs that highlight their range and increasing maturity, without compromising any of the punk ideals that defined their early years.

“Shatter” and “Poppy” jangle along with the spirit of Love Is All covering The House of Love, while “Black Waters” highlights a darker side to the band, its glacial guitar figures dripping with a melancholy that is only eclipsed by Maja Milner’s sweeping vocals (“You can't go on/Stuck under black waters”).

The frenetic closer “Öken,” which sounds like it could fall apart at any moment, offers a more tangible link to Makthaverskan’s earlier work. Of course, the fact that Glass and Bones finishes with a nod to the past makes total sense when you come to understand Makthaverskan’s unshakeable approach to their art: linear predictability is something for lesser talents to worry about.

Glass and Bones is out now via Welfare Sounds & Records.