Swedish dream-pop trio ViVii deliver glorious new single ‘Fool Alone’, out December 2nd through Dumont Dumont

Listen to ‘Fool Alone’ HERE

Following on from the success of their previously shared singles ‘Summer Of 99’ and ‘Rendevouz’ earlier this year, Swedish dream-pop outfit ViVii have now returned to deliver the third preview of their forthcoming sophomore album, the glorious ‘Fool Alone’ out December 2nd through Dumont Dumont.

Bringing back the same bright and soaring majesty of their recent material, ‘Fool Alone’ sees the trio unveil one of their most captivating and spellbinding offerings to date. Layered with a dense and sweeping atmosphere, alongside their beautifully wistful joint vocals, this new gem sets the tone of what we can expect from their forthcoming full-length, which is set to land in the Spring of next year.

Speaking about the new offering, they said "A Teenage love that keeps you hospitalized. A buzz that you can’t and don’t want to get out of. We wanted the song to feel like it was played by elementary school kids sitting in a circle playing guitars, tambourine and bongo drums."

Alongside the release of their new single, the band has also unveiled a wonderfully shot live video for ‘Fool Alone’, which can be watched here.

Even in the long ago distant times of two years ago, ViVii were defying (and denying) the challenging (or simply boring) realities of life. Even in the good old days of 2018, on only their second single ViVii had one thing in mind: dreaming up a better world through song.

Clearly the Swedish trio – singers and multi-instrumentalists Emil and Caroline Jonsson, and multi-instrumentalist and studio whizz and the bands producer Anders Eckeborn – were on to something special. ‘Savant’ has been streamed 4.5 million times on Spotify alone. The self-titled album that followed in 2019 has 14 million streams. ViVii’s sublime dream-pop took them round the world on tour, from their production base in Uppsala, an hour north of Stockholm, all the way to the California of The Beach Boys.

“Think of 1969 and you think of The Beach Boys era,” says Emil, the smiling enthusiasm all over his face as he recalls the pilgrimage the trio took to the beaches and neighbourhoods that birthed Brian Wilson’s teenage symphonies to God. That passion is there, too, in ViVii’s single ‘Rendezvous’, the second taster of the treats to come on the band’s second album, due in spring 2021.

“We just grew up on that time and sound. All that jingle-jangle music, we all love it so much!” he adds with a laugh. “So it’s an homage to that time. It’s a romantic tribute to a place and a time and a sound that means so much to us.”

‘Rendezvous’ was preceded in August by the BBC 6 Music-playlisted ‘Summer of 99’. The first fruits of their 2019/20 sessions in Anders’ Uppsala studio, it’s the perfect example of the trio’s sparking, spectral song writing and is another homage – this one to Emil and Caroline’s romance.

“We did the lyrics together,” says Emil, gesturing to his wife. “It’s very personal. For my part, it’s about us growing up. We have such a long history. I’ve been thinking a lot about the lyrics we tend to write, and when I think about teenage rebellion that most kids have, I didn’t really have that. Instead of that I fell in love with Caroline – I fell in love like crazy!” he admits with a laugh. “That was my rebellious time! I was so gone in that. I didn’t see anything. I wasn’t out drinking our partying – in fact, I didn’t start drinking till I was 30!

With ViVii, that connectivity – emotional, musical, soulful – goes three ways. Alongside Caroline and Emil’s personal partnership, their friendship with Anders goes way back, too.

And it underpins the odd but functional manner in which this self-sufficient trio wrote, recorded and produced their new album: working once a week, on Mondays only, because the rest of the week they each had, well, real jobs: Emil works in a cemetery (“I put people in the ground, in the urns”), Caroline is an economic consultant and Anders is an accountant. "Really serious jobs," smiles Anders.

Opening ViVii's as-yet-untitled second album is the achingly youthful romance of ‘Fool Alone’. Bewitching and transporting, it’s both nostalgic and future-facing, pre-Seventies and post-2020. It’s also a fantastic showcase for Caroline and Emil’s harmonies, and for Anders’ mastery of studio acoustics and studio electronics.

“It sounds like something from the Sixties, something very familiar – but also brand new,” says Anders. “And it’s such a simple song. All of our songs usually start that simply, but then in the studio we add all the electronics. But we can still play all our songs unplugged.”

“That,” says Emil, “is the core of our songs: guitar, singing, good harmonies.”

“And we have that teenage vibe because that’s when we got together,” concludes Caroline. “Musically, that source is never-ending for us.”

As opening statements go, as a promise of a hopeful 2021, they don’t come any better. Yes, it might be, right now, a messed up life. But with songs like ‘Fool Alone’, ViVii show that it’s still possible to be gloriously carefree. That it’s still possible to dream.

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