Mayflower Madame

Norwegian band Mayflower Madame released their latest EP Premonition last month, as well as announcing that they join the bill for The Psych Weekender in Manchester in September. The announcement and release come on the back of a highly successful USA tour. Premonition is available digitally and on CD via Night Cult Records as well on cassette via Black Verb Records, SpiderChild Records and Custom Made Music.

Premonition is their first release since the debut album Observed in a Dream in 2016 and is hotly anticipated. Thematically, the tracks can best be described as apocalyptic love songs, but they also imply a sense of impending doom on a bigger level – a feeling that the whole world is balancing on the dizzy edge of the abyss.

The four track offering opens ‘Premonition’, a post-apocalyptic vision complete with air raid sirens, an intense bass line and a haunting guitar riff overlay. The atmosphere is compounded by haunting vocals which are ethereal in nature. ‘Before I Fall’ continues along this path, but adds a western inspired guitar progression that would not be out of place on the California coastline. It captivates throughout with subtle changes that ensnare the senses. ‘Alma’s Sermon’ is a pacier number with a driving beat and clever guitar interplay which grabs hold from the offset and won’t let go and despite the atonal countenance, overall the track feels upbeat and could easily fill a dancefloor given the right audience. Concluding ‘Spiders Seek’ is the perfect track to sum up the EP, drawing together elements of all that has passed before with an added eerie synth melody to contend with. Yet somehow it manages to leave the listener wanting more, rather than sating their appetites. - Backseat Mafia

Olso four-piece Mayflower Madame has a penchant for brooding, rhythmic tracks which they personally refer to as “apocalyptic love songs.” Fittingly enough, the post-punk band takes their name from the infamous Sydney Biddle Barrows, who was charged in the 1980s for running a high class prostitution ring in New York City. The band’s discography, consisting of two EPs and a full length album, ranges sonically from spacious and psychedelic to tight with punk-inspired rhythms. Released about a month ago, their most recent EP follows an eerie course into the the nightmarish realm of the subconscious.

This dastardly collection of songs will thrill lovers of all things dark and gothic. The EP begins with its title song, “Premonition,” a synth-heavy atmospheric odyssey through the darkness of the mind. Beginning with the haunting howl of air raid sirens, the song is filled out with guitar riffs reminiscent of a particularly juicy spy thriller and airy, unintelligible vocals. Slowing down the tempo is “Before I Fall,” which casts a moody veil over the established surf-goth guitar and hazy vocals. “Alma’s Sermon” kicks off with a driving percussion line and a catchy bass line that beckons the listener to “Follow me / into the grave.” Not without a little camp, “Spiders Seek” closes out the album in a flurry of spooky bass notes, conjuring up images of a moonless night, full of things that go bump. The lyrics are full of dark imagery: “I feel them crawling / Needles on my skin / I feel them crawling / Spiders seek my heart,” a vision matched by the spectral tone of the song.

Fresh off a spring US tour, Mayflower Madame is working on a new full length album set to drop later this year. Hopefully it comes in time to make it on your annual holiday playlist – that holiday being Halloween, of course. - Girl Underground Music

Band: MAYFLOWER MADAME (Norway)

Who: The band “formed in Oslo in 2011. They started rehearsing in a desolate industrial building they shared with a car wash company. Amidst the gritty surroundings, their hazy, smoke-laden sound seemed to be conceived naturally and the band soon recorded a four-track demo. Debut album ‘Observed in a Dream‘ finally arrived in 2016. The album proved to be well worth the wait and its dazzling display of darkly inflected post-punk swathed in shimmering psychedelia earned them rave reviews. Since then, the band has toured both in the U.K./Europe and North America.”

Pick: PREMONITION

Score: If ‘Premonition‘ is the sound of Judgement Day then I’ll welcome the world’s end with open ears and a big grin on my face. Its sonic gloominess is just perfect for humankind to go down with an electrifying big bang. As this troubled planet will destroy itself sooner or later I recommend these four Norwegian horsemen of the Apocalypse to be our Armageddon Orchestra. Capture the ominous beauty of their hellish anthem and its devastating images right here… - Turn Up The Volume

It all starts with an air-raid siren. A historical sound with connotations of WW2 for many, but still heard in places like South Korea and Japan, it’s a sound which provokes an almost biologically-wired shudder of unease. They may only be tests, but the sound of sirens in the last 12 months reminds us that stability is but precarious. And then the snaking, surfy bass strolls in, awash with reverb… and then the guitars… It’s all pinned to a locked-down groove, and Trond Fagernes’ voice rises up from amidst it all as if from the back of a cathedral. You saw it all coming, right? They obviously did and approach by stealth, before building to a whiling cacophony by way of a climax. But for all of its noise and tension, this feels more introspective than anything they’ve done before.

Norway’s Mayflower Madame draw heavily on post-punk influences – music born out of the dark days of the early 80s, corresponding with the period when cold war tensions escalated to warrant the labelling of ‘the second cold war’, and the economic boom years widened the chasm between the haves and have-nots was rendered more conspicuous by the rise of the yuppie. And so on.

What Mayflower Madame bring to the gothy party is a potent dose of Nordic noir psych and a dash of shoegaze, all doused in massive reverb, and the four tracks on Premonition continue the trajectory of their 2016 debut album, Observed in a Dream.

The claustrophobic focus continues on the swirling, shoegazy ‘Before I Fall’; the guitars twang through a gauze of drifting synths and echoey fx that create a certain distance between the listener and the actual song, an unusual sense of both space and an absence of space. ‘Alma’s Sermon’ is centred around a backed-off yet insistent motoric beat and has greater immediacy and – it’s all relative – upbeat vibe. But then closer ‘Siders Seek’ plunges deeper into darkness: a paranoid shiver runs down the spine of the track’s tremulous guitars, and everything about the song’s construction seems to be about concentrating the tension. And yes, this is tense. - Aural Aggravation

Norwegian post punk/darkwave four-piece, Mayflower Madame, will be releasing their new EP, Premonition, on May 18th, 2018, via Night Cult Records. This marks the band's first release since their debut album, Observed In A Dream, from 2016, and precedes their upcoming sophomore album, expected later in 2018.

The EP's opening title track once more expresses the band's dark temperament and Nordic coldness, bringing together the more savage post punk aspect of their sound with elements of psychedelia, shoegaze and space rock. The result is an ultra hazy, super dark piece which mirrors its influences with utmost respect, and exhibits a characterful and confident act, bleak with their content and bright with promise.

Mayflower Madame are Trond Fagernes (vocals/guitars), Havard Haga (guitars), Petter Marberg (bass) and Ola J. Kyrkjeeide (drums). - Destroy//Exist

After their stunning debut album “Observed in a Dream” from two years ago, Norwegian psych-noir/post-punk 4-piece based in Oslo, Mayflower Madame, have announced an upccoming 4-track EP titled “Premonition” due to be released on May 18, 2018 via Custom Made Music, SpiderChild Records and Black Verb Records, an exciting appetizer from the sophomore album that will follow within the year.

“Before I Fall”, the first song unveiled from, as they define them, a “collection of apocalyptic love songs”, is introduced by semi-acoustic guitar chords, soon to be followed by melodic, touching, crystalline guitar leads and evocative and enveloping keyboards chasing and intersecting each other throughout underpinned by the wistful vocals, drawing a shadowy, somber atmosphere laced with deep melancholy and longing.

The band’s sound seems to be refined and evolved, the reverberations and distortions have been replaced by crepuscular and rarefied tones, the menacing and bitter dark elements are diluted in an atmospheric and immersive post punk engulfed with hopeless sadness and disenchantment, reminiscent of the early Felt or Australian The Church, resulting in a mind-blowing and utterly bewitching beauty.

Mayflower Madame confirm once again to be an band of unique emotional depth and sheer sonic elegance.

Check out the video about the upcoming US tour, included an excerpt from another new song, more menacing and rhythmic, always exciting. - White Light//White Heat

Oslo post-punk and “psych-noir” band Mayflower Madame are premiering with us today their stylish and black and white Astrid Serck directed video for their track “Before I Fall”, a song featured on their recently released Premonition EP.

The band elaborate on the track’s songwriting and composition compared to the other songs on the EP:

“Before I Fall” is the second track on our new EP “Premonition”. With its lush melodies drenched in a melancholic haze it displays a more quiet and stripped down side of the band compared to the more savage post-punk aspect of the opening title track. Lyrically, it portrays a mood of soul-searching, repentance and longing when you find yourself at the dizzy edge of the abyss.” - Post-Punk.com

If you were one of the lucky few in one of twelve cities, you might have just caught Oslo-based Mayflower Madame on their first North American tour. “Drown” is the first video/single from their second album which will be out later this year.

“Drown” is a dark, moody song and the video is a perfect reflection of the music. Shot almost entirely in black and white and sepia tones, the director has created eerie images for the video that transcend time. Mayflower Madame’s music is self-described “psychedelia/dark wave/shoegaze/noise-rock” and “Drown” melds those genres hypnotically. - Impose Magazine

Mayflower Madame are a psychedelic orientated post-punk band from Oslo, Norway who peddle a dark, brooding sound which blends well with some of the finest sounds of the time.

Comprised of Trond Fagernes (vocals/guitar), Håvard Haga (guitar), Petter Gudim Marberg (bass) and Ola Kyrkjeeide (drums), they formed formed in the dark winter of 2010 and started rehearsing in a desolate space. From the gritty surroundings, their nebulous sound was born. Their debut album Observed in a Dream was released in April 2016 in Europe on the bands own label, Night Cult Records and in June 2016 to the North American audience on American label Custom Made Music to critical acclaim.

‘Drown’ is a fuzz laden guitar lovers heaven with shoegaze vibes from My Bloody Valentine being channelled throughout. The saturnine vocals of Trond draw attention whilst a strong rhythm section drives the track through and with some extra distorted guitar, a Sisters of Mercy vibe prevails.

Having just completed a tour of the US and a new album in the pipeline, Mayflower Madame are one of the new champions of Scandinavian Psychedelia and ones to watch with interest. - Backseat Mafia

One does have to appreciate that a band would take its name from an infamous sex scandal. History lesson? The real Mayflower Madam was Sidney Biddle Barrows, whose escort service in 1984 was charged with the promotion of prostitution.

Fittingly, then, Oslo's mysterious, immensely powerful Mayflower Madame (they add an "e") reach back to that same time for sonic inspiration. Indeed, their sneering vocals and wickedly distorted guitar riffs are pure Jesus & Mary Chain, the ominous, echo-drenched atmospherics recall Sisters Of Mercy, and the overall and very palpable sense of fear and dread harken back to Faith-era Robert Smith. Their debut album Observed in a Dream was released in spring of 2016.

BlackBook premieres here the harrowing, appropriately titled new track "Drown". The theatrical, widescreen soundscapes, thundering drums and layered instrumentation actually remind of Manchester post-punk heroes Chameleons (an A+ for obscurantism), evoking a final wintry chill before the onset of spring.

They arrive on these shores tomorrow, March 31, for the launch of their first North-American tour, at Providence's Dusk, before taking the stage at NYC's Trans-Pecos on Saturday. Make an effort to see them. - BlackBook

Making a comeback in recent years, goth music is a standalone genre from which emerged a new way to listen to sad music. The goth music scene has evolved dramatically from it’s origins. Bands like Bahaus and Joy Division marked the emergence of a sorrowful and tempestuous approach to making rock music. Partnering emotional semantics with darker, hollow instrumentals made for a new brand of rock music and a new breed of fan. Today, the goth music scene is still very much alive as artists like Mayflower Madame continue to keep traditional goth music appealing and relevant. The four-piece ensemble originated in Oslo, Norway and has put out now two albums together, while anticipating a third in the winter of 2017. “When we get eight songs together we just say ‘oh, that’s an album!'” says frontman Trond after the group played a captivating and visually stimulating set at Complex in Los Angeles. The group played silhouetted against smoke machines and bathed in colored lights, which created the goth-psychedelia vibe that matched their music so fittingly.

‘Drown’ is the latest single and accompanying music video from Mayflower Madame and it will be featured on their upcoming 2017 album yet to be released. They report already having about six songs written and recorded with only a few more left to go to complete the album. The smooth vibrato vocals intertwine delicately with the unrelentingly ominous basslines. Elements of doom, ambient and psych rock never played so well together as they do in Mayflower Madame’s seamless set. Flawless execution and obviously well-rehearsed, Mayflower Madame make immaculate music in unity with one another, while paying homage to the genre’s origins. There’s a deep and unsettling liquid viscosity to their music making it a quintessential part of any goth music fan’s curated collection. - Girl Underground Music

Today, Mayflower Madame released their first full length studio album, “Observed In A Dream”, an intensely rich and atmospherically dark psychedelic beauty of a record.

Having grown into a young adult, enjoying dark, new wave bands with a psychedelic vibe like Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, The Mission (UK) or Prince of the Blood, later adding Chameleons and then later still Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (the only of those I ever saw live), I’m rather familiar with this kind of sound – and so are Mayflower Madame. This is not to say they’d be just taking cues and wrapping it in a bit of their own. Not. At. All.

“Observed In A Dream” is most definitely a must-listen album for fans of the aforementioned bands and then some. I’ve also read Mayflower Madame being compared to My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and the Mary Chain, more big names to the already impressive list.

Listening through the album multiple times, I’m discovering something new and unexpected every single time and am already looking forward to the quartet’s follow-up!

Hailing from Norway, Mayflower Madame are comprised of Trond Fagernes (vocals, guitars), Rune Overby (guitars), Petter Marberg (bass) and Ola J. Kyrkjeeide (drums), supported live and in the studio by Kenneth Eknes (synth).

One of the stand-out tracks is “Self-Seer” – partly inspired by the moody work of famous and fellow Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch. The song is a dark and feverish tale about obsession, escapism and longing, listen to it now: - Glamglare

We begin in a chamber of noise, nightmarish but not oppressively so. It’s a track called “Confusion Hill” and at exactly the one minute mark we emerge, welcomed by a warm haunt of bass and accompanying drum, by a crystalline tolling of guitar, by psych-dappled textures that in this darkened atmosphere suggest we’ve stepped from that semi-nightmare state into something far dreamier, namely the expansive, unconfined confines of an Echo chamber. The impression persists, if only glancingly, once the sonorous low-key glory of the vocal arrives but it doesn’t take long, as Oslo quartet Mayflower Madame’s debut Observed in a Dream plays out, to understand you’re in the presence of an album – and a band – that well exceeds the bounds of mere simulacrum, distilling its multiple on-the-sleeve influences into a singular musical impulse all their Nordic own.

“Lovesick” carries on with a tight rambling chime menaced by a loitering western outlaw vibe that finds the Gun Club hanging out in the Swamplands, the shadowed “Self-Seer” builds on an immaculate tribal thrum (drummer Ola Jorgen Kyrkjeeide’s work is crucially vital to May Mad’s sound) to become a kind of dry-iced, heat-shimmering scorcher, the short punchy “Weightless” has an eerie skeletal vibe hovering over it thanks not least to a silvery glow of synth balanced by the frontier gleam of Rune Øverby’s guitar presence that together lend the track a half ascetic half desert feel, while the title track settles into the expansive, sprawling with a somehow desolate claustrophobia, a bass (Petter Gudin Marberg) leading down snake-infested arroyos and around the corner into the reverberant lurk of a chrome-grey crevasse. Rising up from under and/or weaving through and/or suspended above all this the glowering, adept authority of Trond Fagerness’s vocals, a lucid near-baritone wraith presiding as if it has the law of ancient runes locked securely in its invincible timbre.

The pieces of Mayflower Madame fit together with a svelte organic might that reflects a long, strong dedication to the idea of ‘being in a band,’ a vaunted concept that in some quarters is becoming anachronistic but these four show reports of its demise to be decidedly premature. One only need listen to Observed in a Dream‘s final cut, called with not a little plaintive irony “Forever//The End of Everything,” to hear convincing proof of the cohesion on display throughout the record, the track moving through its movements with a seamless faultless ease until it flirts with the borderline of a modest epic. Gang, brotherhood, family, whatever, the validation of the ‘unit”s value presents as a living force over the intrinsic flow of this record’s eight tracks, and it would be surprising indeed if the record didn’t end on a timeless note. - Stereo Embers Magazine

Oslo’s Mayflower Madame are purveyors of darkly inflected post punk with swirls of psychedelia. Offered here is their first full length album, a lacy collection redolent of twilit rooms and black candles. Their ominous sound enthralls you from the very first track, “Confusion Hill”, which has all the requisite elements: throbbing bass, echoing guitars, and a slightly sinister vocal from vocalist/guitarist Trond F. By the time “Forever (The End of Everything)” unfurls its obvious Chameleons influence (the guitars alone should convince you) and still holds its own as a stand out track, you know these guys have the goods. It stands to reason that Joy Division and The Cure and maybe Nick Cave figure largely in their respective music collections, but that is all to their credit. Many have been called to mimic their heroes, but few really get it right. Mayflower Madame has nothing to worry about, they have it nailed! On “Into the Haze (Redux)”, the opening guitar reminds me of The Doors and continues informing the dark miasma that shrouds this song, a mash up of icy post punk with an overlay of goth.

“Lovesick” has a kickin’ guitar riff that insinuates itself into your brain along with Trond’s deep vocals, leaving you wanting more. The title track is only slightly more upbeat and a lot trippier than the previous tunes; I like the hazy buzz of guitars flitting through this song. Once again, the Chameleons are brought to mind with the use of propulsive, chunky guitar sonic layers. “Self Seer” has hints of prog along with a firm measure of post punk. I really like the way the organ and guitar wind together sinuously, offering a firm foundation to carry this song through. And ooh, “Weightless” is a cool way to close things out. It is short and offers up reverb laden guitar that nearly impales you like a hot poker as it marches to its conclusion. Mayflower Madame is definitely a modern post punk band to watch! Check out their music on their Bandcamp page and catch up with the band over on Facebook. - The Big Takeover

Earlier this year, Savages shared their brilliant sophomore album, Adore Life, a dark yet immensely introspective album whose soul was primal and cathartic. If there was a companion album to Adore Life, it could very well be Mayflower Madame‘s debut LP, Observed in a Dream.

Observed in a Dream has the wintry feeling of Mayflower Madame’s home country – icy and dark, haunting and majestic. Throughout its eight songs and over thirty minutes in duration, we are sent on a mesmerizing journey across the tundra in Norway’s more remote areas, beginning at “Confusion Hill”, which welcomes us with a wave of reverb before settling into a methodical, eerie rhythm. Frontman Trond Fegernes’ hallow vocals add to the suspense.

“Lovesick” changes the pace, moving towards a more upbeat, neo-psychedelic sound that crosses between Wooden Shjips and Brian Jonestown Massacre. The whirling guitars and dense bass lines created a hallucinating effect, which is only added by Fergernes speaking about a levitating, out-of-body experience. “Self-Seer” and “Upside-Down (the death loop)” follow and must be heard simultaneous. Together, they form the album’s heart and soul with their hypnotic and dazzling tempo. Like being lost in the wilderness, it is at this point where you begin to succumb to one’s surroundings, or in this case the soul-crushing psychedelia of Mayflower Madame.

We are brought back from the brink with “Weightless”, a spiraling tune that echoes “Lovesick” in its approach, but within Observed in a Dream the song is like a ray of sunshine. The fog, though, returns on “Into the Haze (redux)”, a song that has a trance-like effect to match the song’s lyrics of being intoxicated by one’s love for another. We’re left in this same state on the delirious “Observed in a Dream”, but instead of living the dream we are left feeling we’re trapped inside it. That there isn’t an opportunity to escape and the journey will never end.

The closer, “Forever // The End of Everything”, though, offers a reprieve. The crystalline guitars in the middle part of the track are a breath of fresh air, helping us to awaken from the intense dream and escape from the wilderness within us. It’s a terrific closer to an album that is surprisingly immersive and frighteningly beautiful.

Observed in a Dream is out now via the band’s own label Night Cult Records in Europe and Custom Made Music in North America. Mayflower Madame are Trond Fagernes (vocals, guitar); Rune Øverby (guitar); Petter Gudim Marberg (bass); and Ola Jørgen Kyrkjeeide (drums). - The Revue

Mayflower Madame were conceived during a cold Oslo night, one of those winter evenings that seem to stretch on forever in the inky skyline.

Deeply atmospheric psychedelia, the band's music exists in a haze, a smoke-laden fug. Recalling Spacemen 3 or aspects of The Velvet Underground, the band's lysergic drag seems to colour all it touches.
Debut album 'Observed In A Dream' is due to be released on April 22nd, with lead cut 'Weightless' already charming fans.

Clash is able to premiere the visuals - drifting and delirious, you can tune in below. - CLASH Magazine

Outstanding debut album from Norwegian Post-Punk outfit.

It’s generally a good sign when you listen to a new album, find yourself pondering who it reminds you of and then deciding it’s of the style of some great bands but crucially with an identity all of its own. Observed in a Dream, the debut by Mayflower Madame will doubtless be referenced back to the likes of Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, The Cure and even elements of Jesus and Mary Chain, but there is also a deliciously fresh hint of darkness.

Hailing from Oslo, Mayflower Madame were first brought to the attention of Louder Than War readers as new artists in early 2014 and Observed in a Dream certainly fulfils the potential that their debut EP, Into The Haze, demonstrated. The shimmering bleakness of opening track Confusion Hill is a suitable portent of things to come before the gothic power-pop of single Lovesick.

The atmospheric vocals of Trond Fagernes combine with precision guitar licks on tracks like Upside Down (The Death Loop) and Into the Haze while title track Observed in a Dream is rich in bleak power. Forever//The End of Everything is a suitably brooding album closer and further evidence of the rich potential of this Norwegian four-piece.

Having worked hard to gain a strong reputation for live performances, Mayflower Madame have clearly transferred this energy to a magnificent debut that offers an irresistible musical essence of Nordic Noir. - Louder Than War