Formed in 2007 in Helsinki, Finland, Joensuu 1685 — a project of brothers Markus and Mikko Joensuu and non-related bassist Risto Joensuu — have been dormant for over a decade, but a 2018 reunion performance at the Flow Festival ignited the spark for them to complete an unfinished album.
“We had been talking about finishing our unfinished album and playing together again all those years,” they said via a press release. “In 2018, the stars aligned and we all had time, energy, and motivation to finally do it. We didn't start playing together to only play a few shows, it was clear from the very beginning that if we started to play together again, we would finish the album that we had started to record in 2010. It has always felt really unpleasant to think that we didn't finish what we had started. We got to studio in 2018 in Hollola, which has maybe the most beautiful and mellow-vibed studio in Finland called Petrax. After that, we kept recording in Helsinki at our own studio and Berlin at Kaiku Studios during 2019.”
Today's featured track was inspired by "an image of a dying town," Mikko explained. “About a person in front of a gas station right at the edge of town, seeing the town and seeing oneself, what was, what is and what will be. It’s an image of the hope that runs deep in our bones…”
The long-awaited sophomore release, titled ÖB, will be released October 9th via Gems Records.
