Les Big Byrd | Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain

"Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain" is the fourth album from the Stockholm institution Les Big Byrd, the band consisting of Joakim Åhlund (Caesars, Teddybears), Frans Johansson (Fireside), Christian Olsson and Nino Keller (Caesars). "Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain" features lyrics and song titles in both Swedish and English, but the most crucial language is its musical one, created by Joakim Åhlund and Frans Johansson when they formed the band in 2011 and nurtured lovingly since, especially since the former took back control of the production side of things on Eternal Light Brigade.

Closer ‘The Night Bus’ is an especially striking demonstration of just how far Les Big Byrd have come over the course of the past decade or so; an electrifying twelve-minute odyssey that buzzes with nocturnal energy, bringing in swells of brass, twinkling pianos and sparkling synths. It is the sound of this most exhilaratingly adventurous of bands continuing to obliterate their boundaries.