Is there a more innovative and adventurous record label than áMARXE at present in the progressive world? I don’t think so, because their roster of artists continues to not only expand, but provide the world with some of the most egregiously experimental music.
Simon Steensland is a Swedish instrumentalist, who was not known to me prior to the recent release of his new work, Explosion of Bad Music, a title I can only conclude was dreamt of in an ironical creative burst, because it is quite the opposite. It is bold, it is sweeping, and it is probably unlike anything else you will hear in 2026.
The album only has two tracks, Not Dragon, and Dragon, twenty-seven & twenty-six minutes respectively, putting them both in contention for what is fast becoming a hot field for the prestigious Topographic Oceans Award on this website at year-end.
It is perhaps cliched to merely describe this as “avant” music. Yes, it is, and there is certainly plenty of the spirit we saw in the Rock in Opposition artists back in the day, but, in reality, the work presented here deserves far more than a mere label, because it is a veritable range of styles and tastes, from the symphonic work of Oldfield (especially some of the choral passages reminding one of the original TB), through to chamber rock, via shanties, with Scandinavian folk thrown in for good measure.
I am not going to detail each change in direction at each turn, because to do so would, I believe, belie the intent of this talented musician’s release, which must be heard as a whole, with mind firmly fixed on each passage.
There is a huge guest list, which you can view on the same page as the highly recommended purchase route at https://amarxe.bandcamp.com/album/explosion-of-bad-music You will note the range of voices brought together for the album, and the mix of contemporary with classical instruments.
From the off, with the explosion of notes, you are presented with drama and brace yourself for a motorised helter-skelter of a ride. We have choral interaction with offbeat electronica, the effects interesting and offbeat. A special mention here for Robert Elovsson, who is perhaps the finest advocate of the accordion I have heard in progressive rock, certainly in modern times. Throughout, the interaction between bass guitar and the drums of Morgan Ågren are sublime.
Steensland is very adept at making the minimalist interesting, passages where a clarinet and accordion possess the room alongside strange noises, lonely bursts of trumpet amidst crying synths. The orchestral jazz-infused improvisations are fascinating, the mix of chamber and rock beguiling, and I did, incidentally, search on BBC Sounds to see whether our national broadcaster had played any of Steenland’s music, and the result was a blank – in terms of its mission to bring to wider public attention modern classical music on BBC Radio 3, it is missing a trick in its absence, and, indeed, the delightful opening passage of Dragon is ideally suited, I believe. As it develops into the main theme, there is some very intricate electric guitar work interacting with violin and keys, the percussion never anything less than interesting, keeping time as if conducting the entire piece.
The violinist is Karolina Weber Ekdahl, and she produces a lovely, Romany-infused solo, the bass guitar climbing up and down the scale beneath her.
You will hear some incredible guitar bursts – this is a musician with serious ability on the frets, for sure, and with a classic rock sensibility in there, as well.
Steensland also brings to the table his wide experience of composing music for theatre, with some dramatic turns of phrases - on Dragon you can hear the wind howling across the steppes of the stage, the voices screaming in pain, but this then suddenly morphs into a playful sequence involving keys and accordion before descending into the tubular brooding. The closing passage is full of psych infested waters, the closing voices rather disturbing as they fade.
There are some albums which present serious challenges to a writer, and this is one of them. I mean that in a positive manner. There is simply so much going on, and the suitable word to describe it is enigmatic. It is a work which demands serious attention and cannot be broken down into mere descriptive words on their own.