Body
The future used to look like a machine. In the early 1980s, electronic music captured both the excitement and unease of technology becoming part of everyday life. Armours tap into that feeling on their debut EP Body, bringing back the stern silhouettes and analogue atmosphere of the period without turning the past into fancy dress. The Stockholm trio are clearly drawn to that era, but the subjects here belong to the present: grief, difficult power dynamics and the occasional desire to shut out the world. With daily life once again coloured by financial pressure, political instability and technology that seems to move faster than anyone can properly process, their electronica feels well suited to the moment. It is serious without becoming cold, and familiar without sounding trapped in someone else’s decade. There is also something reassuringly human about how Armours came together. Håkan Ängquist and Thomas Isberg first met three decades ago and began working together again in 2025. Bengt Rahm was originally invited to create live visuals, but soon became the third member. The story gives Body more weight than the usual debut narrative. It is not about three people rushing to make an impression, but about old friendships finding a new purpose after careers, responsibilities and the rest of adult life have intervened. Recorded between a Stockholm flat and a basement studio in Enköping, the five tracks move between personal experiences, including watching over a parent, and broader thoughts about authority and escape. The closing reinterpretation of a Swedish indie song from the 1990s feels like another piece of their shared history making its way into the present. By the end, Armours feel less like a new group trying to revive an old scene and more like three friends picking up a conversation that never quite finished.