Jordsjø

If there's a new prog rock band that I think will be a big hit with progheads everywhere, it'll be Jordsjø, out of Norway! This is clearly retro prog not too different from the likes of Änglagård, Wobbler, Sinkadus, White Willow, and Tusmørke. The vocals are in Norwegian, which may put off some, but I've grown to appreciate prog bands sing in their native language ever since I was first exposed to Italian prog back in the 1990s. This is lead by Håkon Oftung, who plays most of the instruments aside from drums. There is no doubt how vintage the keyboards sound, although he does use a Mellotron M4000D, he uses a real Solina String Ensemble on the cuts that uses them. I seen a few photos of his gear online, but clearly the music features the sounds of Moog, Hammond organ, and Mellotron played in true '70s fashion! Much of this stuff was released as limited edition cassettes, but they sold out rather quickly, which I understand completely, because this stuff is just mindblowing! If you lucked out on the cassettes, they're still available for downloads at Bandcamp. Yes, it's calmer than Änglagård, but I love the vibe they create, plus there's the distinct Nordic feel, as common with a lot of Scandinavian prog I've heard ranging from Bo Hansson to the crop of retro prog starting with Änglagård. At least a double vinyl set has been released compiling material from the first three cassettes (the 2017 cassette Jord isn't covered, though), including the parts Jordsø contributed on Songs from the Northern Wasteland (the other half going to the wonderful electronic act Breibablik, who I very much recommend for those who want to hear new acts play Berlin School style electronic music). If things go properly, their stuff will become more widely available (as it is with prog like this, never will be as widely available as say, the latest Steven Wilson installment) so more progheads can discover this.