The Stockholm-based alternative pop artist RIVER has released "Paradise," the final single ahead of her debut album "A dying source," which will be released on November 13 via Bushido, a part of Pub Crawl Recordings. The song unites atmospheric sounds and emotionally charged melodies with a narrative about love, fantasy, and darker realities. The seemingly idyllic title conceals a problematic love relationship. The singer describes it as "a sarcastic tribute to enjoying the drama in a destructive relationship."
The accompanying video concludes a trilogy that began with "City of thirst" and continued with "Change." Both music and visuals in these three works share a cinematic expression characterized by nostalgia, surrealism, and quiet unease. In the latest installment, the main character takes care of her husband after he survived the attempted murder depicted in the previous video. The artist describes this fictional continuation as her character living out a distorted paradise, reflecting parallel universes in the mind and reality.
The video is set in a kitschy home environment where the role of the happy housewife begins to unravel. The visual language is inspired by the 1960s and the cult film "Gummo." The story culminates in a surreal, sarcastic interpretation of the lapdance scene in Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof." The singer directed the video together with Sofie K Skoog; Peter Milanov filmed it.
The release follows recurring airplay on P3, where Navid Bavey has compared her sound to a mix of Mazzy Star and Prince. Festivalrykten has praised her works' personal, cinematic character, and she has also been acknowledged in Odalisque Magazine. Among her performances are Brilliant Minds and a club gig at Debaser.
Her early musical interest was sparked by her father’s vinyl collection. She remembers being moved by Elvis Presley’s songs as a child, which made her want to become an artist. However, she initially kept her musical ambitions to herself. Stage fright contributed to her hesitation, as did what she describes as a middle child’s tendency to avoid the spotlight.
When her father died she was seventeen, and the loss marked the beginning of a deeper engagement with music. She left Gothenburg and traveled around the world before settling in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. There, she participated in musicals and led a jazz and blues band for two years. This gave her experience in other stage expressions than the alternative pop recordings she releases today.
Alcohol and drug abuse brought her time abroad to an early end. After a period with Alcoholics Anonymous, she returned to Sweden and began developing her current music project.
The artist name is a wordplay on her surname, Sommarström. She also links it to the earth, the rhythm of nature, and the constant movement of water.
