While it’s probably fair to say that the influence of pre-war proto feminist and rebel socialite Virginia Woolf on modern music isn’t quite as significant as that of The Beatles or The Who, what she has inspired has always been of the utmost quality. As well as a stunning Philip Glass soundtrack to her biopic ‘The Hours’, punk queen Patti Smith, countless riot grrrls and Morrissey have all named her as a direct source.
Add to that list the new single by Swedish bizarro-pop trio Like Swimming. If we tell you that it’s named after Woolf’s 1929 feminist bible ‘A Room of One’s Own’ (the same text that gave The Smiths the title ‘Shakespeare Sister’ no less) we’d forgive you for thinking you need a red brick university degree to dissect it.
Luckily, that’s not the case. So, although they are subtly pushing a feminist agenda here that Woolf would no doubt approve of, Like Swimming manage to do it all in a blaze of snazzy pop sparkle and awesomely simple infectiousness. Musically, there are clear parallels with 80s electronic gods like The Human League and New Order, especially with the clattering of synthetic drum pads it begins with, courtesy of drummer Petter Wesslander. But Ida Hedene’s wonderfully cheery, innocent synth line that hooks you almost from the word go has more in common with ‘Kids’ by MGMT than anything to emerge from either side of the Pennines during the reign of Margaret Thatcher.
The band’s two singers, meanwhile, Ida and bandmate Claes Carlström, trade verses and take one spectacular chorus each. If there’s one ultimate ‘money shot’ moment here it has to be the first chorus, where Ida’s voice suddenly jumps into the mix with a snaking refrain (“You gotta let it go / To let it grow”) that curls itself around your consciousness and refuses to let go.
Revolutionary intellectual semantics were never meant to be this much fun, we’re sure of it. So don’t be scared of the big bad Woolf and give Like Swimming some room in your life.
[Rating:3.5]
A Room of Her Own is out now on DigSin, taken from the band’s debut album structur
