The Mary Onettes - stop this melody, 2025

"The drums take center-stage and it seems a little darker. It also ends with a tiny sample and makes a nice nice bookend to the record's start."

The Mary Onettes - wdwhl, 2025

"The album starts with a weird sample, but immediately kicks into the dream-pop sound The Mary Onettes have always perfected. On this song "WDWHL" I could swear I was listening to a new Slowdive record."

The Mary Onettes - eyes open, 2025

“Eyes Open” builds upon the aftermath of themes, unraveling the emotional conflict between letting go and holding on. Maja Milner’s ethereal vocals add another layer, immersing the listener in a shimmering haze of nostalgia and longing. Soaring synths and melancholic melodies amplify the song’s emotional depth, crystallizing the internal struggle that inspired it."

The Mary Onettes - slow, 2007

"The Mary Onettes' eponymous debut sounds eerily familiar - there's the synthiness and jumpy new wave basslines of Echo & the Bunnymen ("Void" is a good example) and just a touch of jangly R.E.M. guitar work ("Pleasure Songs"). In this respect, the Mary Onettes could be lumped in with other Scandinavian shoegaze worshippers, and those familiar with Swedish indie pop will no doubt reach for comparisons to bands like Lane and Celestial."

The Mary Onettes - can't stop the aching, 2013

"He can make things sound huge and dramatic (as on the title track and the elegiac "How It All Ends"), but he and the band shine when they pull things back and underplay the emotion, as on "Years" and "Can't Stop the Aching."

The Mary Onettes - forever before love, 2023

"two brand new singles from the Swedish quartet, the former starts off with a twinkly, gothic jangle straight out of a 70s horror movie (it reminds of Suspiria, for some reason). And I suppose it makes a lot of sense that the track combines elements of yesteryear with today’s indie pop staples, since songwriter Philip Ekström says the song “is about finding the way back to yourself"

The Mary Onettes - bricks, 2009

"Bricks" is one of the standout tracks on Islands, the second studio album by the Swedish dream pop band The Mary Onettes. Released in 2009, the song encapsulates the band's signature style: ethereal melodies, reverb-heavy guitars, and a blend of melancholy and nostalgia. The track is characterized by its dreamy, atmospheric production, which draws heavily from 80s post-punk and shoegaze influences, while maintaining a modern indie pop sensibility."

The Mary Onettes - the companion, 2007

"The Mary Onettes, a guitars-and-keyboards band from Sweden, don't make any excuses about sounding awfully 80s, and their indie-romantic touchstones aren't so different from any other new-wavers': This debut album includes broad, obvious borrows from both New Order and the Cure, and fainter echoes of plenty of other stars from that constellation."

The Mary Onettes - unblessed, 2013

"One of the new album’s most stunning tracks is “Unblessed”, led by caressing synth pads and slick bass reverberations. A minimal synth arpeggio creeps in slowly, as is the case in many Italo-disco and Balaeric gems, and Ekstrom’s vocals take off into its usual soaring peaks. “It’s more than just a bad dream,” he sings over enchanting melodies and beach-set ambiance. This is far from a nightmare. Much of Hit the Waves is pure bliss."

The Mary Onettes - blues, 2013

"Maybe read some great Swedish poetry so that people get really serious and maybe sad. And then play our show. And then more poetry."

The Mary Onettes - hit the waves, 2013

"unlike the dry guitar and drums of American surf rock, Hit the Waves is absolutely drenched. That makes it a somewhat more remote pleasure than either their essential 2007 self-titled debut or its 2009 follow-up, Islands, which sounded more weightless and pretty at first but ultimately revealed itself as a result of the same sharp songwriting and carefully structured melody of the debut."

The Mary Onettes - dare, 2009

"With huge melodic choruses, soaring strings, and vocals filled with emotional gut-wrench, “Dare” is four minutes of anachronistic bliss."

The Mary Onettes - the laughter, 2007

"The band describe it best themselves when they told us “Previous influences like The Cure and Joy Division have now been replaced by Sade, Whitney Houston, Peter Gabriel and Vangelis”. That just about sums it up doesn’t it? Put this one in the queue for your next new wave dance party."

The Mary Onettes - once i was pretty, 2009

"Music that is meant to stay will stay. Bands that do something really meaningful will most likely reach its crowd. People should just learn to trust their instinct, not always the hype. But sometimes the hype is okay."

The Mary Onettes - your place, 2014

"This time the mood is a bit more subdued, shoegazey and ethereal at times, and demands close and repeated listens to capture it's full glory."

The Mary Onettes - god knows i had plans, 2009

"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 on Labrador Records suggested the same title without having heard me mentioning the idea, so that was a coincidence too good not to pursue. 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".

The Mary Onettes - symmetry, 2009

"The Mary Onettes - Islands has very warm songs written from the heart. Every song is dripping with emotional imagery of someone growing up and growing old. The strings could possibly use some variety of sounds, but are still hauntingly beautiful to listen to. The opener "Puzzles" is the lead single and a good intro for what is to come on the album. "Symmetry" is the song that drew me in and still my fav. The album closes with Bricks - a filled with acoustic guitar beauty and such a moving song. from this group I've had this It should have been released as a single. I've had this for over 8 years now and I never grow tired of it. If you assume that this is simply a retro 80s group think again."

The Mary Onettes - evil coast, 2013

"The Mary Onettes went full beach vibes for their video for “Evil Coast,” an almost cruel visual for those of us longing for warmer climes in the middle of still-snowy March. Now that we’re dangling our legs into the pool of summer, the Swedish indie-pop group have flipped the script and dropped a barren, black and white clip for their comfortingly beautiful" 

Such a great song!

The Mary Onettes - puzzles, 2009

"Despite its woeful key, “Puzzles” has unbearably catchy melodies, from the vocal hooks to the massive synth lines and backing percussion. It may very well be their greatest and most accomplished tune thus far"

The Mary Onettes - the disappearance of my youth, 2009

"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 in 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 with themes of lost youth, transience and death."