After returning with their comeback single Summer Of 99 in late August this year – the first release since their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album in March 2019, which has since been streamed more than 13 million times and culminated in a major headline tour across the United States last Autumn – Swedish dream-pop outfit ViVii now return to continue their positive ascent as they share their latest offering Rendevouz, taken from their forthcoming sophomore full-length.
Capturing more of that ethereal and spellbinding aesthetic they have quickly garnered a reputation for of late, Rendevouz follows up their newest material with a warm and enticing groove. Sipping more into a synth-pop guise this time around, their newest delight is a bright and uplifting return for the trio, giving us one of their more inviting and euphoric cuts to date.
Speaking about their new release, they said, “It brings us back to the mixtapes days. The feeling of pushing play and then entering into the world of whatever that song would give. Some songs would take us to our favourite places that no-one knew about, but we havent been back there for a long time, this song brings us right back to that same spot, hopefully it will take you on a trip as well.”
ViViis sophomore LP will land in Spring 2021.
The trio is made up of Emil and Caroline Jonsson and their enigmatic work partner Anders Eckeborn. Speaking about their relationship Emil explains, We work with another guy, but he doesn’t like the limelight at all… Anders is amazing, he loves all noises, continues Caroline. It took ages, we were so slow before, but once we met Anders it became easy we are all slow workers individually but together it’s beautiful. It’s always so natural.
All five of ViViis previously shared singles have reached the top 5 on Hype Machine chart, with And Tragic and Suckerpunch reaching the #1 spot. Online tastemaker support has come by way of The Line of Best Fit, DIY Mag, Indie Shuffle, CLASH, Earmilk, Hilly Dilly, All Things Go (Best Songs of the Week), Record of the Day amongst many others. Radio support has come internationally from Guy Garvey (Elbow) on his 6Music show (UK), P3 (Sweden), NRKP3 (Norway) 3FM (Holland) and Radio Eins (Germany). They also recorded and released a COVER of Harry Styles Sign Of The Times for the Mahogany Sessions – https://youtu.be/DcsO42pveFw
Caroline and Emil, who were born and raised in the coastal city of Gothenburg, met at summer camp as children and formed a strong, life-long bond that pulses powerfully decades later. Friendship swiftly blossomed into romance and by their late teens they were a couple; by their early twenties they were married. The childhood sweethearts then embarked on a dream honeymoon to New York City, staying so long they had to traverse the Atlantic multiple times to renew visas. Eventually, funds dwindled and they had to find work, with Emil reviving his teenage modeling career to supplement their vacation of a lifetime but that’s far from the end of the hurricane tale.
A chance encounter at an Eric Roberson gig part of their trip’s purpose was to absorb as much music as they could led to a wild journey with soul sensation Tye Tribbett. An instant connection erupted between the trio (he had a crazy energy, says Emil), and they spent a few heady months touring the East Coast as part of his gospel choir and immersing themselves in a completely different lifestyle than they were used to, fulfilling one of Caroline’s lifetime goals in the process. But still, they weren’t done.
Emil and Caroline lived a full, enviable life before deciding to relocate to Stockholm and focus on themselves. Life, of course, had different plans, and soon they were blessed with children; and this is where ViVii begins life in earnest. Perhaps surprisingly, young children didn’t derail musical ambitions quite the opposite. When the kids came we got to actually write and record, explains Emil. When they arrived the structure came into our lives. We knew we had to do it then.
So the duo got down to business on their own sounds, fusing tones and melodies and taking inspiration from the music of their youth: the old tunes crackling on grandparents’ vinyl records, hymns from church, indie-pop jewels, classical opuses (Bach, of course,) and gospel choirs. Still, something was missing…With Anders thrown into the mix, ViVii galloped into life: he slowly but surely grew into our producer and a third member of ViVii.
It’s taken ViVii decades to reach this point a fairytale ending with glorious music to show for it. Everything has led them to a dizzy high; but this is no true end to anything this is just the beginning.