Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly (v. Alone Together (Sep 2020))

[RoeDent]

Rikard Sjöblom was the leader of Swedish band Beardfish until their breakup in 2016. During that time, he released a few solo albums, some of which were credited to Gungfly. After Beardfish's split, he resurrected the project as Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly (while also joining Big Big Train), and released On Her Journey to the Sun last year.

Recently, Gungfly's new album Friendship was announced (release November 9th), so I feel it's a good time to start a thread for them.

[Nick]

Love Rikard and was very happy to see Gungfly at Night of the Prog. Looking forward to the new album.

[ich bin besser]

Quite a big Rikard, Beardfish and Gungfly fanboy here. Love everything he puts his hands on (including BBT, nowadays). Very nice and humble guy, as well.
What more can you expect?

 

[RoeDent]

And of course earlier this year we had the release of Rumbling Box, which collects all the pre-OHJTTS albums together (including The Unbendable Sleep, formerly just credited to Rikard Sjöblom solo).

[ProfessorPeart]

LOVE Beardfish but I have struggled with the Gungfly stuff. I haven't purchased any of it because none of the samples I have heard have ever done anything for me. I'll probably revisit and see if anything has changed for me.

I keep holding out hope that something clicks since I'm a big fan of Rikard.

[RoeDent]

LOVE Beardfish but I have struggled with the Gungfly stuff. I haven't purchased any of it because none of the samples I have heard have ever done anything for me. I'll probably revisit and see if anything has changed for me.

I keep holding out hope that something clicks since I'm a big fan of Rikard.

Not even anything from On Her Journey to the Sun? To me it sounds like a continuation of Beardfish's sound.

[ProfessorPeart]

I recently took the plunge and bought the Rumbling Box along with On Her Journey. Haven't really dug into them yet. I think I'm going to love Cyklonmannen after checking a bit of it out.

I did just receive Friendship in the mail and listened to almost the whole album today. This sounds like Beardfish. Really enjoying it and can't wait to finish it later.

[RoeDent]

Finally got my copy of Friendship today. My goodness, the title track is awesome!

[Fritzinger]

Finally got my copy of Friendship today. My goodness, the title track is awesome!

I like the opener and the instrumental best. But the whole album is great!

[RoeDent]

The other day, I bought Rumbling Box, a five-disc set that collects together the early Gungfly albums along with others previously credited to just Rikard Sjöblom.

- Cyklonmannen
- Please Be Quiet
- Lamentations
- The Unbendable Sleep

And finally a previously unreleased album sung entirely in Swedish. The title is long and currently escapes me, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It proves that music transcends the barriers of spoken language. If it's a good tune, it doesn't matter if you can't understand the words.

[SwedishGoose]

Rickard Sjöblom is out on tour soon in Europe supporting The Flower Kings together with iamthemorning.

Will see them in Stockholm on the 14th of December.

[Fritzinger]

You guys are getting slower 

Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly will release their new album ‘Alone Together’ on the 4th September 2020. It follows extremely productive past few years, whether it be working with English progressive rockers Big Big Train, or taking the lead with Gungfly.
Rikard comments: “I started writing these songs about a year ago but then it took some time to get started with the production because I had two tours lined up, one with Big Big Train in November and then opening solo for The Flower Kings on their European tour in December. After that my focus shifted back to Gungfly and it felt really nice so it all came together pretty fast!”
‘Alone Together’ saw Gungfly recording as a trio, with brothers and previous collaborators Petter and Rasmus Diamant on drums and bass respectively. “It was a lot of fun playing both keyboards and guitar because I had come up with a lot of nice parts but I knew early on that I wanted to make the album with the brothers on drums and bass – luckily they were very up for it!” This ‘power-trio’ have focussed on the rock this time, and you can hear that loud and clear: “I didn’t want to smother the production with layers upon layers of keyboards and bells and whistles but instead tried to keep it prog rock with the focus on ROCK. I wanted every instrument to mean something in the mix.” This is evident on tracks like ‘Happy Somewhere In Between’ and the 13-minute epic ‘Traveler’, where Gungfly have never hit harder.
‘Alone Together’ will be available as a Limited CD Digipak (with 2 bonus tracks), Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album. The album cover features a painting by American artist Kevin Sloan (The Flower Kings). Rikard comments of the piece: “I had just written lyrics for the song ‘From Afar’ and was looking at Kevin’s paintings when I came across this one and I couldn’t believe the connection, particularly the lyric “A million eyes watching glimpses of each other’s lives””.
The full track-listing for the album is as follows:
1. Traveler
2. Happy Somewhere In Between
3. Clean as a Whistle
4. Alone Together
5. From Afar
6. On The Shoulders Of Giants
7. Grove Thoughts (Bonus Track)
8. Shoulder Variations (Bonus Track)

Rikard never disappoints. Beardfish are no more, but this is the best reimbursement possible Only six songs, I hope they are friggin long 

[HOF]

I never was able to get into Beardfish beyond a couple songs, but I love Rikard’s contributions to Big Big Train. Friendship was actually the first thing he’s done that really clicked for me, and that took a little while. Interested to see what he’s come up with now. His music is nothing if not creative.

[ProfessorPeart]

Oh man, insta-buy! I can already call this a contender for album of the year without even hearing a note. I still listen to Friendship regularly. That album is just magical. I recently picked it up on 180g vinyl I love it so much.

Love the 'focus on the ROCK' bit. I have been periodically looking for news and this is very welcome. Thanks for the heads up!

[RoeDent]

Thrilling news! Rikard has become one of my favourite musicians ever over the last few months. From the box I bought last November, all the albums bar Cyklonmannen are still in regular rotation, along with OHJTTS and Friendship. I can't wait for the new album!

[ytserush]

Very interested!

[ProfessorPeart]

Track times from Burning Shed:

1 Traveler 00:13:04
2 Happy Somewhere In Between 00:06:19
3 Clean as a Whistle 00:06:24
4 Alone Together 00:09:35
5 From Afar 00:02:46
6 On the Shoulders of Giants 00:14:50
7 Grove Thoughts (Bonus Track) 00:03:25
8 Shoulder Variations (Bonus Track) 00:05:23

Just put my pre-order in at Laser CD for the vinyl/CD combo. Total is $25 shipped. Couldn't pass that up.

[ytserush]

Track times from Burning Shed:

1 Traveler 00:13:04
2 Happy Somewhere In Between 00:06:19
3 Clean as a Whistle 00:06:24
4 Alone Together 00:09:35
5 From Afar 00:02:46
6 On the Shoulders of Giants 00:14:50
7 Grove Thoughts (Bonus Track) 00:03:25
8 Shoulder Variations (Bonus Track) 00:05:23

Just put my pre-order in at Laser CD for the vinyl/CD combo. Total is $25 shipped. Couldn't pass that up.

May be placing an order with Laser CD fairly soon.

[HOF]

Since nobody posted this, here is the video for the first “single” off the album.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8jElDO5KwFQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3lWlttUYhlc0iepQSDtx5X6eFmcit_J1crzlYYUTa_YKT4fKt3k96-PTQ

[MinistroRaven]

Today sees the launch of the video for the epic title track of the album, and you can watch the clip created by Crystal Spotlight here: https://youtu.be/NS1wfNlPCQo

[HOF]

Today sees the launch of the video for the epic title track of the album, and you can watch the clip created by Crystal Spotlight here: https://youtu.be/NS1wfNlPCQo

Those eyes! Song sounds good though.

[ProfessorPeart]

My vinyl/CD copy arrived today. Listening now. So far, another quality record from Rikard. Not sure that it will top Friendship, but that is a tall hill to climb in my book.

[HOF]

Track times from Burning Shed:

1 Traveler 00:13:04
2 Happy Somewhere In Between 00:06:19
3 Clean as a Whistle 00:06:24
4 Alone Together 00:09:35
5 From Afar 00:02:46
6 On the Shoulders of Giants 00:14:50
7 Grove Thoughts (Bonus Track) 00:03:25
8 Shoulder Variations (Bonus Track) 00:05:23

Just put my pre-order in at Laser CD for the vinyl/CD combo. Total is $25 shipped. Couldn't pass that up.

May be placing an order with Laser CD fairly soon.

I was looking for this at Laser CD today and they didn’t have it listed for sale. (I just need the CD but didn’t see anything about the new album). Am I going crazy or do they not have it in stock?

[ProfessorPeart]

Looks like Ken is out of stock of both versions right now. When he goes out of stock on something he pulls the listing from the site. I would guess it'll be in stock sometime in the near future as he is the official US Inside Out store.

Sheesh, Amazon is showing delivery sometime in October for the CD. Glad I hit up a pre-order on Laser.

And, technically, Rikard's stuff doesn't actually get a proper US release. It's always imports from Europe which makes it a bit harder to obtain.

[HOF]

Looks like Ken is out of stock of both versions right now. When he goes out of stock on something he pulls the listing from the site. I would guess it'll be in stock sometime in the near future as he is the official US Inside Out store.

Sheesh, Amazon is showing delivery sometime in October for the CD. Glad I hit up a pre-order on Laser.

And, technically, Rikard's stuff doesn't actually get a proper US release. It's always imports from Europe which makes it a bit harder to obtain.

Yeah, I’m leery of importing anything right now. The last thing I bought from Burning Shed took about 8 weeks to get here. It’s hard to believe Laser CD is sold out already. Hopefully they get more before long. This release date sneaked up on me.

[Fritzinger]

I think On The Shoulders Of Giants is one of Rikard's greatest "solo" songs. I think it's better than both 10 mins+ songs from Friendship.

On Her Journey To The Sun remains my favourite Gungfly release though. What a fantastic musician and composer Rikard is. I think he gets far too little appreciation.

[HOF]

I think On The Shoulders Of Giants is one of Rikard's greatest "solo" songs. I think it's better than both 10 mins+ songs from Friendship.

Streaming this now, and that solo at the end is amazing.

[kirksnosehair]

This guy is a genius. 

[ProfessorPeart]

Hey HOF, Laser CD has the digipak back in stock.

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/alone-together-cd-digipak

[HOF]

Hey HOF, Laser CD has the digipak back in stock.

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/alone-together-cd-digipak

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up.

[The Letter M]

Got this in from Burning Shed last week. I've spun it a few times and it's really good. My first exposure to Gungfly, but I have heard the previous two albums on YouTube as well, and I'll have to get those on CD soon. This is some tasty 70's-Prog-inspired music with modern sounds and twists. Definitely enjoyable to listen to, but I'll have to listen more before I can fully articulate my feelings on those albums, but the new one is pretty great so far!

-Marc.

[RoeDent]

I'm hoping to pick up Alone Together by the end of the week too. I've been thinking about who my favourite bands and artists in recent years have been, and Gungfly is definitely in the top 3 for me, alongside Southern Empire and Kyros.

[RoeDent]

Fastforward a few days, and I have the album in my hands! I think I'll have to give the first three songs another listen, because it feels like it hasn't got to proper Rikard/Gungfly territory until the title track. But then I think I have a bit of migraine so I'm not overly receptive right now.

I've also now decided to put most of the bonus tracks I've collected from these Gungfly albums into their own playlist. I've not heard most of these before, as I usually tend to ignore bonus tracks, but I heard a clip of Slow Dancer from the Friendship album and it made me want to give these a go. Now it stands at 11 tracks:

1. Quasimodo
2. Where I Want To
3. A Winter Day
4. Sin
5. Pii
6. Tell Me Of The End
7. For Mr. Olsson, Wherever He May Be
8. Slow Dancer
9. Past Generation
10. Grove Thoughts
11. Shoulder Variations

1-2 from Please Be Quiet, 3-7 from Lamentations, 8-9 from Friendship, 10-11 from Alone Together.

[HOF]

Slow Dancer was one of my favorite tracks on Friendship. Always odd when a quality track like that gets dubbed as a bonus track or put on a disc of extras.

[RoeDent]

I guess blame the IO marketing people.