Swedish trio Tape was formed in 2000 by brothers Andreas Berthling and Johan Berthling (Fire!, Ghosted, Häpna founder) with Tomas Hallonsten (Time is a Mountain, Mariam the Believer). Taking cues from pop, experimentalism, and minimalism, their sound has become recognized internationally and a genre in itself. Echoes can be heard from the likes of Tara Clerkin Trio, Steve Reich, and Tape’s sometime collaborators, Tenniscoats.
As the band celebrates its 25th anniversary, we asked Andres Lokko – journalist, wordsmith, and long-time Tape fan – to put his relationship with the band into words:
“I’ve spent nearly a quarter of a century in the company of Tape’s music. May this friendship never end!
No one quite like this Stockholm trio has managed to score the most prosaic discoveries of everyday life; like, say, the small patch of woods just behind my house, between the Coop supermarket and Örbyleden road. At times, it’s like listening to a wordless short story by Stig Claesson.
Nearly fifteen years ago, Tape released a piece titled Dust and Light. Few word combinations could better describe the feeling I imagine Tape is striving for—or at least the effect it has on me as a listener.
It’s music that squints awake in the sun as its rays struggle to break through dusty windows on a crisp early winter morning.”
– Andres Lokko, Bandhagen, June 2025
Den Osynliga Manteln consists of Ola Sandberg and Fredrik Grönvall, is based in Malmö, and operates somewhere between kraut, electronic music, sound design, and prog. After three studio albums – Insektsfolk (2021), Under Grön Himmel (2023), and the upcoming Bim Zalazim (2026) – the instrumental duo is now transforming into a live act, joined by members of Death and Vanilla and Sista Bossen.
