INTERVIEW: Indie Pop from Joe & The Anchor

Hailing from the Swedish city of Malmö, Joe & The Anchor is an indie pop band formed by childhood friends. The group features Joakim Rosenlund on lead vocals, guitars, bass, synths and keys, Sam Petter Claeson on guitars, synths and keys, Ruben Sonnesson and Robin Zhang on guitars and Viktor Edsjö on drums. Each member also contributes backing vocals, creating a rich, layered sound that’s seen them go from strength to strength over the last six years.

Drawing inspiration from influential acts like The 1975, LANY, Maggie Rogers, The Blue Nile, and The Bleachers, Joe & The Anchor first made their mark in 2018 with the debut single “WIDE AWAKE.” Since then, they’ve released a string of well-received singles, their debut album Antidote in 2019, and an EP in 2021.

Bringing their music alive on stage, they’ve played major festivals such as InMusic Festival in Zagreb,as well as supporting Swedish rock heroes Mando Diao at Malmö’s biggest club venue KB. The pandemic brought unexpected success when their cover of The 1975’s “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” went viral. Recorded before its official release after hearing a live performance, the cover connected with international audiences and even led to a radio interview in the Philippines.

This newfound global attention has raised the hype for their upcoming sophomore album, Coming Of Age, set to drop in September. The album was recorded and produced by Sam Petter Claeson and Joakim Rosenlund in Claeson’s studio in Ystad and mastered by Magnus Lindberg in Redmount Studios.

The first taste of this new material is their single “Nothing Without You,” a bittersweet love song that revolves around the painful context of unrequited love. The track explores the duality of a relationship that, despite its moments of connection, ultimately leads to loneliness and the necessity of moving forward alone.

Brought in by the swell of soft sonic textures as delicate guitar plucks underpin Joakim Rosenlund’s silky vocal leads, the track bursts into a shimmering rock-tinged pop anthem brimming with instantly catchy hooks, relatable lyricism and danceable energy. With a vibrant arrangement of breezy guitars and bright synths riding the steady strike of drums and infectious vocal leads all colliding to craft a dazzling sound that’s impossible not to live, “Nothing Without You” sees Joe & The Anchor deliver a stunning pop rock outing that builds the excitement for the band’s highly anticipated second album.

We caught up with Joe & The Anchor to find out more about their musical journey so far, their new single “Nothing Without You” and what they’ve got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with Joe & The Anchor below.

Hey guys, how’s things?

Things are good, we’ve released two singles from our upcoming album “Coming Of Age” and life feels exiting!

How did you get together as a band?

We basically got together as teenagers as we played in various constellations before ending up in what today is Joe & The Anchor and then our latest member Sam Petter joined during the pandemic when we decided we wanted to make an album.

Which artists do you draw most inspiration from?

Maggie Rogers, The Blue Nile, The 1975, Lany, Lo Moon and many more. But definitely we lean into the indie scene.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

Being curious about life and observing the everyday life is a great way of finding inspiration for our music. As well as taking showers because that’s where the magic happens, so I always keep a notebook near, just in case.

What’s been your highlight of the year so far?

Releasing our two first singles from our upcoming album. It’s finally happening and we can’t wait to share more music with the world. And it’s something special about this as well since we’re fully indiependent for the first time.

What do you love about the Malmö music scene?

That it’s so incredibly full of potential. There’s literally a musician in every corner of Malmö and they all sound terrific, which is very inspiring and you kinda feel like stepping up your game even more because everyone’s so talented. The music scene is incredible diverse and it’s such a multi culture city which really makes the city stand out.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

Enjoy our music however you want. But blasting our songs in the car on a roadtrip is definitely our favourite!

How has your own style and sound evolved since you started out?

Our sound has evolved from being overproduced to being more authentic and analog. We try to have as much analog elements as possible to really make it feel like you’re listening to us during a live-show and to give every member of the band a time to shine. A great challenge but a lot of fun haha.

Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

The 1975 hehe, Matt Healy and Dirty Hit, you know where to find us 😉

How did you find making your new single “Nothing Without You”?

Nothing Without You was the first single we wrote for our album and it kind just wrote itself. Then Joe took the demo to Sam Petter who fell in love with the sound and was so impressed that he decided to join the band and then we just kinda took it from there. We really love the song and we’re super proud to have released it!

What message did you want to get across with this release?

We think it kind of carries two separate messages.
The song itself, a bittersweet, upbeat love song which pretty much speaks for itself.
On the other hand, the essence of this release, is definitely the joy of playing for us as a band. As well since it was pretty much the start of making the album it carries this, almost intimate feeling since this has “been ours” for so long! And now it’s finally out! It reflects our rediscovered love for music and the joy of playing, and shows that we are the strongest when we are together.

What artist have you been listening to most recently?

This is such a fun question!!
Since we’re five in the band with all different “most recently vibes”, it’s varies from our “standards” such as 1975, Maggie Rogers, John Mayer etc. But we’ve had some classical music on rotation (two of our members are semi-professional conductors as well, some Lars Jansson, Miles Davis and some scandinavian modern pop such as Sigrid, and one of us saw Tool live in Stockholm the other week and the other night we had a dinner and listened to James Taylor. The best part is we all get so inspired talking about what we’ve listened to recently!

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

That’s not for us to say, we want people to be able to feel however they want when listening to our music. Whether it’s sad, happy, calm or energetic!

What’s been your favourite live performance so far?

We did a performance in Croatia a few years ago that was absolutely crazy at the Inmusic Festival in Zagreb! But we are crazy looking forward to our first live performance as a 5-person band for our album release party!

Who would be 3 artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?

The 1975, Lany and Tame Impala, and it would be awesome to have a small intimate festival in our studio with them haha. Would have been so cool, please make it happen.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow your footsteps?

Dream big and just start and take it day by day and eventually you’ll be where you want to be.

Finally, what do you have lined up for the rest of 2024?

Our next single “Hit Me (Nothing Left To Break) that drops in August, and then the grand finale, releasing our full length album Coming Of Age. From there on we’re going to focus on some live shows as well but above all enjoy the ride of our album.

Listen to Nothing Without You below