Gothenburg-based label Mammas Mysteriska Jukebox has a few new releases out this summer. The first is this EP from Soft Estate, a fittingly mysterious outfit. Thankfully, I stumbled upon a review from Bis auf Messers who identified the group as centred around Alan Outram who previously performed as Woodcraft Folk. I know little about that project as well, except that they released some records on the now-defunct London label The Great Pop Supplement. In true Saâda Bonaire fashion, Outram added two female vocalists to the Soft Estate project: Lauren Paige Dowling (also of Sheffield group Potpourri) and Evie Jeanne.
The music is DIY synth-pop in the vein of Karen Marks and across the 7 tracks of The Painted Ship the group wisp through most of the history of underground UK pop from the the 1960s until the mid-80s.
