Janice Prix are stepping out of the shadows with an unexpected release - a cover of Belinda Carlisle’s 80’s classic “Heaven Is a Place On Earth”. It’s the first of a handful new releases to come during fall and winter, recorded during the pandemic in their newly built Janice Prix Studios.  

Soon after their homecoming from touring South Korea, the pandemic really started to unfold. Richard Henry explains what that meant for the band.  “Like everyone else, we didn’t know for how long this pandemic would impact the live scene, but luckily we decided early on to build a new studio and focus on writing and recording.”

Their debut album, released in 2020, was recorded and produced in legendary Psykbunkern, the studio of Swedish cult band kent with producer Stefan Boman. Victor Hillström describes the change. “We really enjoyed working there with Stefan, it was indeed a special athomspehere. They were wrapping up the final kent album at the same time we started our recordings and towards the end of our production we were there for their farewell concert. However, having our own studio now offers another kind of freedom in terms of time and creativity.”

This is the first ever cover to be released by Janice Prix and Richard Henry points out that they wanted to make it count. ”We’ve always said that if we were to make a cover, it had to be a challenge. Not choosing something obvious, close to home, like a Depeche Mode song or something.” 

MK elaborates on what the song means to them and on the music video. “The original version might not represent Janice Prix but a good melody can be presented in so many different ways. Also, think the theme for this song revolves around escaping reality, which connects to many of our own songs. I really think that we managed to capture the sense of fleeing in the music video, which was partly shot on open water.

Heaven Is a Place On Earth

Janice Prix fortifies that they’re really back with dark grinding single Stone Love

According to singer Richard Henry, the reason behind the dark sound is “the state we were in as a band when writing and producing this song during the pandemic really influenced the outcome of the sound and lyrics. It comes from a dark place where we honestly were quite uncertain of our future together.” Guitarist and producer MK elaborates on the lyrics and says that it “definitely revolves around destroying something beautiful and turning it into something awful. It happens in both love and friendship.” 

The song is written, produced and mixed by the band themselves in the studio they built during the pandemic. Victor Hillström, drummer, says that “we wanted the song to have some kind of Depeche Mode vibe and having enough time in our own studio really helped us finding that vibe.”. To emphasise the darkness even more, an upcoming eerie video will be released. Martin Bergström, bassist, claims that “the use of lifesaving dummies could be seen as a metaphor for being dead inside”. 

Janice Prix are releasing more singles throughout the fall and winter of 2022, leading up to their much awaited sequel album.

Stone Love

Swedish indie noir band Janice Prix is back with ominous new single, ‘Turn The Lights’ with trademarked infectious melodies and eerie soundscapes. The song was written, produced, and recorded while working back and forth between Sweden and Hong Kong. Inspiration is drawn from vast contrasts in both nature and social standards. Richard Henry (vocals), says that "the feeling and atmosphere living in Hong Kong really seeped into the songwriting and producing.” Being the first time split between continents, Janice Prix had to create in a completely different way from what they’re used to. 

Victor Hillström (drums) says that “always working different hours due to the time difference caused a feel of isolation and looniness that really forged the way the song took in terms of sound.” The song revolves around isolation and disconnection arising from being stranded in a context very different from home. MK (guitar) talks about the 2003 film Lost in Translation being his favourite and that “the atmosphere of ‘Turn The Lights’ hopefully feels like the one in the film.” Martin Bergström (bass) says that the ambition with the accompanying video for ‘Turn The Lights’ is to “be as ominous as the song itself with unsettling imagery of an untypical funeral ceremony.”

Turn The Lights

Buy on iTunes

Rain

Thank you is part of the Janice Prix 2015 debut EP. Produced by Robin Rudén and Janice Prix. 

Thank You

Live session of Janice Prix song 'Rain'. 

Rain (Live session)

Janice Prix formed in the small industrial town of Trollhättan, Sweden. Despite their passion early on, the local music scene didn’t exactly embrace their creative difference with open arms: one day, the band arrived at the studio to
find fake obituaries of each member’s name nailed to the front door. But from performing at Berlin Music Week and being active in the Swedish Club scene, Janice Prix have successfully established a place for their unique indie-pop
within a town traditionally dominated by metal and punk.

With dark choruses and pop sensibility, previous politically charged single ‘Waking’ is far from what their native town is used to hearing. The anthemic chorus and emotive lyrics make the political statement of the track even more
profound. Inspired by the tumultuous narrative of refugees fleeing their war-torn homes, ‘Waking’ is a powerful
testament to compassion and political awareness.
Janice Prix expand their sound further on new track ‘Glitch’ – an impassioned elegy for victims of violence from the perspective of a brutal murderer. A haunting piano opens before a reverb-drenched electronic beat kicks in. This
ominous start is soon accentuated by an unnerving vocal and distorted guitar samples that drift in and out. With a Wembley-worthy chorus, ‘Glitch’ reaches stratospheric musical heights with lyrical content to match. Elaborating on their new release, they said:

”It’s a song inspired by the tragic events taking place in our hometown of Trollhättan in 2015, where a masked man killed students and teachers with a sword in a racist attack. The lyrics revolve around the thought process within the mind of an assailant right after an attack. We wanted the melodies
and gloomy soundscape to emphasize the concept of eternity and life sentence.”

Glitch

New massive single Ikaros is a modern day greek tragedy taking place in Manhattan
Indie noir band Janice Prix assembled in the small industrial town of Trollhättan, Sweden. Despite their passion early on, the local music scene didn’t exactly accept their musical differences: one day, the band arrived at the studio to find fake obituaries of each member’s name nailed to the front door. From performing at Berlin Music Week, touring South Korea and being active in the Swedish club scene, Janice Prix is starting to convince people both at home and abroad.

The bands new single ‘Ikaros’ is described as a modern day greek tragedy taking place in Manhattan. The theme of the song is further described as “a typical ‘you don’t know what you got till it’s gone’ kind of thing. It’s inspired by a stay in New York a few years back and the lyrics reflect on carelessness and regret for ‘flying too close to the sun’, much like the greek mythology character in the song title did.”, Richard Henry, vocals. The video for the song, filmed by director Helge Olsén, was shot in a shut down factory in the middle of nowhere. Even though the word “wax” is mentioned just once in the lyrics, the whole video is more or less built around it. “It’s something about how melted wax moves that is absolutely mesmerising”, Victor Hillström, drums. The creatures veiled in colourful and patterned fabric seen throughout the video is inspired by artist Markus Åkesson’s piece “Now you see me”. Same piece is also used as cover art for the Ikaros single. 

In anticipation of the release of Janice Prix’s debut album ‘Waking’ on July 17th, the band presents ‘Ikaros’ as the final sonic frontier. Talking about the making of the album and the upcoming single ‘Ikaros’ the band said that “The end result is a bold and powerful song, immensely cherished by us and we think the song it self is a statement of our ambition for this record. We never grew tired of it while recording the song, and that speaks volumes about the quality of the song in our book.”

Janice Prix

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