O'spada bringing you cool electro funk from sweden

Swedish electro funk band O’Spada make dance music that will make you want to lip synch into the bathroom mirror. Hailing from Stockholm, they have been creating quite a stir recently after releasing two great singles in quick succession, and making them available for remixing, producing some fantastic results. Their latest release “Ten Strikes” combines upbeat funk with soul and jazz, and pieces it all together with some crisp 80’s sounding production. No wonder their label describe them as “a bastard child between Prince, Jackson 5 and Justice”. Synth stabs, wah guitar, and slap bass all groove tightly with the drums, providing the perfect backing for the melodic and soulful vocals of Julia Spada. If you’re looking for the kind of tune that you can dance to, clap to, and sing along in your best falsetto to, then you must get a copy of this. This is the second single released this autumn from their forthcoming (as yet untitled) album due for release in 2010, which if “Ten Strikes” is anything to go by, should be a cracker.

O’Spada formed in 2006 and soon gained a reputation for their recordings and live performances in their local Stockholm. Despotz Records, an independent label specialising in electronica, acoustic and pop music soon took an interest and decided to sign the band in 2008. Since then, they have been busy in the recording studio and released their first single “Time”earlier this year. This takes you back to a 1980’s disco, and you can hear influences of Ready for the World and the classic “I can’t wait” by Nu Shooz. With their retro sounding funk and catchy choruses, both releases really sound like they are classics from twenty years ago.

They have certainly created a buzz on many blogs, and after being featured on Radio 1, they quickly gained recognition all over Europe. But they didn’t stop there. They asked their fans if they thought they could top the wondrously produced version of “Time” by setting up a free online remix competition, which was of course met with huge interest. The lucky winners, electronic dance duo Suck Shaft (also from Sweden)  provided some dirty analogue synth basslines with the chopped up vocals of the original, mashing it up with some heavy beats and bleeps. This provides a great alternative club version of an what seems to already sound like a classic tune. They did such a good job on this they were asked to remix the other single. Both are easily recognisable as being remixes of the originals, but they have done some interesting tricks with its rhythm and have provided some alternative basslines that go surprisingly well with the vocal melodies. All of these remixes and the originals can be heard on O’Spada’s myspace page at www.myspace.com/ospada

So there we are, a funky pop single for you from an upcoming band. If you hear this and you’re staying in for the night you’ll be singing into the hairbrush, if you’re in your car you’ll be singing along at the top of your voice, and if you’re out you’ll have to get up and dance.. O’Spada’s two singles can both be heard/downloaded on the usual sites – spotify, itunes, myspace and numerous other blog sites. And its not just the sparkling production of their two singles that gives them their sound – seeing them perform live you will think they have been around since the eighties and have practised every week since. They have three dates booked performing in the UK in London on the 18^th and 19^th December. Check out their myspace for more details. Enjoy!!

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