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IRENE
Irene grew into a full scale band quite spontaneously in 2005. The members were all friends from various bands hanging out in a local pub in Göteborg, Sweden. Some songs that Tobias Isaksson (aka Bobby) had written just couldn't wait to be performed live. The people that did the first show wanted to stick around and by the autumn of 2005 Irene was an octet with semi-permanent members. Shortly after that the record label Labrador signed the band.
A critically acclaimed debut album called Apple Bay was released in 2006. It was an upbeat, super-short, 24 minute tribute to the 60's sound with most instruments recorded live. Irene became keen UK travellers and Apple Bay was licensed in the USA, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan and distributed via Labrador's associates in countries all over the world.
In the spring 2007 tours of England, France, Spain and Germany made Irene aspire to take the music to a new level. The result was a more eclectic pop effort of 27 minutes titled Long Gone Since Last Summer. New members were added along the way and although the album was due in Sweden less than one year after the debut it displayed a band with brand new qualities.
The first single By Your Side was quickly praised on Pitchfork and Irene got a worldwide blog hype peaking at 13 on Elbo.ws. Some fine album reviews and more international attention followed. The album was licenced in the USA, Thailand and Taiwan.
A third album of more instant qualities such as the first one was written, but due to a series of consequences Irene is resting and the future is uncertain. Most of the members are involved in other bands and projects. The prestigeless fun loving attitude of the growing group of friends playing together remains Irene's sun-kissed legacy.
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