Dreamy Shoegazer Solitar Shares New Video Single from Upcoming Album!

Solitär from Stockholm, Sweden is the solo project by Mikael Tuominen, a multi-instrumentalist known from bands like Kungens Män and Automatism, who was born in Sweden in 1973 by Finnish parents.

Mikael Tuominen been working within a large spectrum of music over the years, ranging from doom metal to avant garde free improvisation to music for film to indie rock. The second single and the song that lent some of its chorus to the title of the album, Bus Driver, takes the sound in a synthier direction while painting a picture of someone who tries to find a way to live in a new country.

"It is about my father. He had his problems and some of them spilled over on the people around him, but this is a way to make peace and to get inside his head and his struggle. It’s also a comment on a very hostile current political environment, where immigrants are described only as a problem. You know, give people some acknowledgement for what they actually do - in most cases they come to a new country, work their asses off, pay taxes - but are met by suspicion and hatred more than anything, plus the fact that all the social security systems are constantly being cut down in order to make the richest richer. It feeds a lot of anger that nobody benefits from and if things continue this way it will only lead to cities burning."

The music video for Bus Driver was shot in Morocco.

Solitär - Bus Driver (Official Music Video): (31) Solitär – Bus Driver (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Solitär has a unique take on mellow indie rock. The first release on Tonzonen Records titled Bus Driver Immigrant Mechanic is often laid back and fragile, but there’s a bass driven heaviness cooking underneath with a clear impact of psych and shoegaze. The music travels freely through the centuries, hinting at soundscapes from the late sixties up until today without losing its focus - there is a story to be told. The lyrics deal with death, time travel, family and old ghosts, but also touch upon issues like class and the struggle of belonging in the world.

Mikael Tuominen on the new album: "These are definitely the most personal or even private songs I have ever written. It's a bit scary to release them for anyone to hear, but I think the topics are quite universal seen through my lens. We all have to cope with the loss of loved ones, time passing, aging and all of that heavy stuff. I do want to stress though, that this is a very positive album for me. I used music and the creation of these songs to really dive deep into some issues I needed to process, and it felt so great to come out with this result on the other side."

Bus Driver Immigrant Mechanic will be out November 18, 2022 on Tonzonen Records, pre-order it here: https://www.tonzonen.de/shop/