On a balmy night in August, the Swedish synth-pop four-piece chatted over drinks at Tak, the sprawling rooftop bar at the new At Six hotel. As they neared the completion of their sixth album, to be released later this year, the band was making time to take in the long hours of summer.
Singer Yukimi Nagano, keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand, and drummer Erik Bodin, still based in their hometown of Göteborg, were visiting bassist Fredrik Källgren Wallin, who recently moved to the capital. The Grammy-nominated group has played several sold-out shows in Stockholm, where many music venues are festival-like spaces that allow for hours of revelry.
“Each has its own charm,” said Wallin, who cites Trädgården, in Södermalm, as the best spot for its diversity, from local jazz bands to international headliners, and its courtyard dance area. “It’s located beneath a giant concrete bridge, which gives it this industrial feel,” he added about the space that converts to Under Bron in the winter.
Berns, on the other hand, is housed in a 19th-century Baroque building with crystal chandeliers. “It feels lost in time,” said Wallin. “Everybody’s played there, from Édith Piaf to Aretha Franklin.” After drinks they headed to one of their favorite seafood spots for dinner, Sturehof, which “has the look and food of an old-world bistro, but a casual vibe.”
Next was Brasseriet, a gilded dining room within the Royal Opera House, for a preshow drink. If the night goes as planned, the band will end up at F12 Terrassen, a summer-only venue downtown that has an outdoor area devoted to emerging electronica and an indoor space for hip-hop and R&B. Favored by local music insiders, the spaces are connected by a grand staircase that looks straight out of a Fellini film. “It reminds me of the underground scene in Berlin from a decade ago,” Wallin said.
