Isolated Youth | 5 tracks that influenced ‘Love Locked In A Dark Room’

Isolated Youth have released their new single ‘Love Locked In A Dark Room’.

The track is the latest release in the lead-up to up their debut album ‘miserere mei’, due out on April 4th via Birthday Productions and Memorials Of Distinction.

Describing the single, songwriter and guitarist William Mårdbarg said: “Being out on a ‘cold, dark, violent night’ and, to some extent, feeling trapped in nightly environments without an escape plan. Or perhaps like being underwater and looking up to the surface, finding someone else in this setting, and suddenly realising later the same night that there’s something bright and pure that cuts through the noise and brings you back above the surface. Then, everything else that happened feels like a nightmarish, strange dream, and in that moment, realising that you don’t want the other person to leave… Like love locked in a dark room.”

To celebrate their single release, Isolated Youth shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Love Locked In A Dark Room’.

Cortex – Shotgun Treatment (Live 1986)

William (Songwriter/Guitarist): I would have loved to be around for this show, or just randomly popping into this concert in a ‘Wim Wenders – Der Himmel Über Berlin’ style, standing there like a ghost experiencing a great Swedish band. Oh well, I think the melodic parts along with the groovy driven beat are big inspirations and reminiscent of ‘Love Locked in a Dark Room’ alone.

King Krule – Alone, Omen 3
Andreas (Drums): I have always followed Archy Marshall and his different projects prior to King Krule but when I joined a band King Krule’s music and specially of course his drummer George Bass caught more of my attention. He has a heavy jazz influenced way of playing which I enjoy and get inspired by. The way he plays the ride in this one resonated with me when finding the chorus for ‘Love Locked in a Dark Room’ even if my rhythm and beat is different. But it’s the approach of playing the ride in that jazzy lightweight way.

The Strokes – Heart in a Cage
William (Guitarist/songwriter): I remember being a kid biking around listening to this song, and there’s just this great feeling with The Strokes being a little bit heavier that I really like. They have this blues riff and dragging rhythmic vibe to it that I really appreciate. This is a song that I always DJ but rarely talk about, but people seem to like it. However, I very rarely hear it being referenced in the kind of post-punk alternative gothic nights that I tend to be around. I would like to hear it more often! You can hear guitar references throughout, but my guitar has this veil of Sisters of Mercy dragged over it.

Inre Frid – Ocean Gala
Andreas (Drums): I’ve been following Jon Bergström and one of his many projects ‘Inre Frid’ for a while. It’s very experimental and fun and also some really great songwriting. I love the drum production on this one, got me just trying out different stuff for a beat not revolving around any cymbals or hi-hats.

Iceage – The Lord’s Favorite
William (guitarist/songwriter):  We’ve done a concert night in Kyiv with Iceage, and just generally I used to really enjoy what the Copenhagen scene put out around that time, and a little bit before. This song is just a lot of fun, and has this silly country reference, while still being very raw, and I would say that the bassline is similar to ours, and also maybe this quite melodramatic essence. However, Iceage are warmer and more drunk while recording this track than we were recording ours… I think their song was recorded in Northern Sweden actually. Anyway, Iceage have been so important to the Scandinavian scene, especially this album, and although there are other tracks from this album I enjoy more, this is the one where we might be able to draw a parallel to “Love Locked in a Dark Room.” This whole album is perfect to listen to drunk on a bus. That’s a sensation.

Listen to Isolated Youth’s musical influences:

Stream Isolated Youth ‘Love Locked In A Dark Room’ via Spotify: