You may not be aware that you've already listened to the Swedish electronica duo, Plej but you've probably heard their music on the prime time TV series Six Feet Under or on Jaguar car commercials in the US without even knowing it. Their debut album, Electronic Music from the Swedish Left Coast has long been an underground word of mouth smash hit in European club circles.
Plej (pronounced Play) are brothers Arvid & Erik Niklasson from Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. Arvid & Erik (real name Eerik but also known as Plejboy) started Plej as a label in January 2001 releasing a 12” with Arvids' music on one side and Erik’s on the other. Shimmer by Eerik and Arvid, was released in very limited numbers and has since become a highly sort after white label 12”.
Although Plej started as a label for the brothers to release their material, they soon realized that they had more fun making music than they did trying to get people to buy it. And so, the name of the label became the name of the band.
The Plej sound is characterized by a playful, soft, melodic and experimental approach to house music. Soft club orientated house opens up to experimental deep house that incorporates beautiful melodies. The brothers cite the likes of Herbert, Forcetracks and Isolee as inspiration, outlining the desire to create music that is interesting and unpredictable. When playing live, Arvid (synths) and Erik (Rhodes) are joined by vocalist Jonatan Bäckelie and Johan Brengesjö on trumpet
Electronic Music From The Swedish Left Coast is a gorgeous indulgent tapestry of beautiful succulent left of centre deep house grooves. Plej’s reputation has continued to grow and they receive huge support in the press especially in the UK where they are currently based (eg The Times, The Independent, The Face, Time Out, Mixmag, DJ, IDJ, Jockey Slut etc).
Arvid & Erik have been hard at work on their new album and we’re told that they posted a first draft of it to their record label back in July. Possibly the critical acclaim of their debut album has set the bar too high and is making a follow-up difficult to complete.
Perhaps the delay is because Plej have been too busy working on other projects. Using the name Jesse Nektar, Erik Niklasson is also one half of The Similou, another Swedish electronic duo, together with Dizzy Crane (Joel Eriksson). Earlier this year, The Similou released the single All This Love from their debut album So Hot Right Now (released internationally this Autumn).
Take a listen to an mp3 of Blue from Plej’s debut album.
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