Isolated Youth: Miserere Mei
(Memorials of Distinction/Birthday Productions)
Physical and Digital
Swedish quartet Isolated Youth unveil their anticipated debut album Miserere Mei, released via Memorials of Distinction and Birthday Productions. Produced in close collaboration with Faris Badwan of The Horrors and Max Heyes (Primal Scream, Rolling Stones), the record marks a defining moment for the band – an expansive and emotionally raw collection that cements them as one to watch.
With Axel Mardberg’s haunting lead vocals and his brother William’s driving and intricate guitar work fronting the band alongside drummer Andreas Geidemark and bassist Elmer Hallsby, the band move between shoegaze atmospheres and driving post-punk intensity across the record, capturing a sound which feels fresh yet nostalgic, raw yet considered and focused.
The album’s opener, A New Day, opens the album with a wall of reverby noise as layers of sprawling guitars, drums and bass build a frenetic and dark atmosphere. At the minute mark the track locks into a chord structure as the processed vocals deliver an anthemic central melody.
The richly textured, emotionally, shoegaze influenced opener soon makes way for the swaying distorted tones and tight drums of Love Locked in a Dark Room which highlights more of the post-punk-come-alt-rock side of the band’s material. Growing throughout the track introduces layers of synth as the band build a cinematic, swirling atmosphere, showcasing how the band manage to retain an emotive, atmospheric edge even to their darker, more fuzzy tracks.
Track 3, and perhaps the album’s highlight, Ghost Town takes a more direct approach. A pointed synth riff drifts over a driving bassline and offkilter drum beat as the yearning moody vocals glide over the track and bursts of guitar dance. The track eventually introduces a main fuzzy lead guitar that pulls the track forwards with a sense of purpose and suspense.
This suspense is lifted at the 3 minute mark when the track takes a shift rhythm into a 4 chord, strummed distorted guitar, closing the track in a wall of sprawling, gothic etherealism.
Further into the album, the angular title track Miserere Mei takes a more conventional alt-rock approach interlocked with moments of sprawling electronic to add a stylistic experimental flare. Subtle and boxy piano led interlude En ny dag break up the murky intensity before Psykosoma delivers a beautiful shoegaze-electronic-rock builder that showcases some supreme musicality.
Slicing the album with Where Have You Been, the band close out the album with a fittingly dark and ethereal wash of electronics and fuzzy live instrumentation.
Talking about the album, Isolated Youth see it as a document of their growth as a band – Axel was just 14 when they started playing shows—often lying about his age to perform. “Each performance is like telling all your innermost secrets to a large group of people and then vanishing,” Axel reflects, underscoring the vulnerability that defines both their live shows and studio recordings. Over time, Axel’s voice matured, a transformation that William says reshaped the band’s overall sound and songwriting. “Axel’s voice has clearly changed, and overall you can feel that the band has morphed into something different,” he says. “Just finding our own voice as a group but also for Axel to find his new voice.”
That sense of evolution extends beyond the music into the album’s visual identity. The artwork, painted by William, served as an emotional starting point for the project, what he describes as a kind of “autofiction”, where visual art preceded and inspired the music. This layered, interdisciplinary approach adds yet another dimension to miserere mei, turning it into not just an album but a complete artistic statement. The title, translating to “Have Mercy On Me” reflects the band’s emotional journey—through personal trauma, health issues, and the lingering effects of the pandemic. Despite these challenges, the strength of their bond and collective resilience shines through in every track.
Ultimately, miserere mei is more than a promising debut—it’s a fully realized work of post-punk art that blends raw emotional honesty with lush, gothic textures and ethereal, reverb heavy atmospheres. Dark, beautiful, and heartfelt.
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All words by Simon Lucas-Hughes. More writing by Simon Lucas-Hughes can be found at his author’s archive.
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