Happy news! Ending a 25-year hiatus, THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES drop the video single ‘In Our Darkest Hour (Something New Is Born)‘ as the first advance single taken from the forthcoming new full-length “A Star in Orbit Still“. The fourth album of the Swedish melancholic synth duo has been scheduled for release on May 23, 2025.
THE NORTHERN TERRITORIS comment: “Our first advance single ‘In Our Darkest Hour (Something New Is Born)’ is, as the title suggests, a song about hope and about the light at the end of the tunnel”, Stefan Sääf writes on behalf of the duo. “It felt as quite an obvious choice to reintroduce our band after almost 25 years of a break. With its melancholic, electro-gospel touch, and over-the-top crescendo, it pretty much encapsulates what we were always about: emotion and melancholy. We are also thrilled to release our first video in a staggering 30 years to accompany the single. As an interesting fact about the video, John Alexander Ericson had to be hospitalised for three days with a pancreatic issue, literally 5 minutes after finishing shooting his performance. His pain in the video is very much real.”
Video credits
Art Design & Direction by Korinna Kostyukova
AI Design, Animation, Illustration by Korinna Kostyukova
Video Captions by Alexander Erikson / Stefan Sääf
Additional Design by Olesya Kolos
Producer & Concept by Stefan Herwig
Art Design & Direction by Korinna Kostyukova
AI Design, Animation, Illustration by Korinna Kostyukova
Video Captions by Alexander Erikson / Stefan Sääf
Additional Design by Olesya Kolos
Producer & Concept by Stefan Herwig
The video was partially created by using AI alongside hand-drawn images and motion capturing.
Tracklist
1. In Our Darkest Hour (Something New Is Born)
2. Dreaming of a Tomorrowland
3. Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
4. Is This Really All We Are Looking For
5. The Hunter and the Hunted
6. Arizona
7. Uppland
8. Highway Winterstar
9. Say Yes to Heaven
10. Waiting for the World to Turn
11. How Mercy Feels Tonight
1. In Our Darkest Hour (Something New Is Born)
2. Dreaming of a Tomorrowland
3. Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
4. Is This Really All We Are Looking For
5. The Hunter and the Hunted
6. Arizona
7. Uppland
8. Highway Winterstar
9. Say Yes to Heaven
10. Waiting for the World to Turn
11. How Mercy Feels Tonight
After a record-breaking hiatus of 25 years, THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES are back for good. The Swedish melancholic synth duo has used the time well to hone their musical prowess and to think hard about how they wanted their unique sound to come across in the present. As a result of this intense thought process, the stunning album “A Star in Orbit Still” combines everything that made the band great and generated a dedicated and loyal following that eagerly awaited their return during all those years with a contemporary sound design. Channeling their trademark melancholy and Nordic knack for captivating melodies, THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES did not even shy away from covering LANA DEL REY’s iconic track ‘Say Yes to Heaven’ and to make it theirs.
When the Swedish duo disbanded after the release of their third full-length “Satellite People” in 1999, they left behind many a broken heart in the electronic music scene that was mourning the loss of a one-of-a-kind band with a unique sonic appearance. THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES‘ combination of outstanding songwriting with a strong melancholic Nordic tint as well as semi-acoustic, semi-electronic instrumentation created their very own version of a dreampop soundscape.
THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES began to take shape in the early nineties in the Swedish province Uppland where in modern times nothing ever happens and probably never will. The band took the inspiration for their name from the Stephen King bestseller “The Talisman”, in which ‘Northern Territories’ describes an area in a fictional parallel world. This made perfect sense to the Scandinavians.
Two quiet teens from Uppsala, a royal town in the age of the Vikings but in medieval times losing out to Stockholm, began bonding over a shared taste for electronic music. Before too long, vocalists and electronic musicians John Alexander Ericson and Stefan Sääf produced a demo tape that mysteriously turned up on the desk of a surprised record label boss in Berlin. One phone call as well as some signatures later, and THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES were given the opportunity to release their debut album ‘Midnight Ambulance’ in 1994. The sophomore full-length ‘Orange Moon’ followed in 1997. While the first two releases are generally classified as synth pop, the Swedes began to include more guitars in their music, which became audible on the third album “Satellite People”.
After the duo split up, John Alexander Ericson started a solo career and relocated to Berlin, where meanwhile both members live. Stefan Sääf focused on sound engineering in his own studio. Yet more than a quarter of a century later, THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES found their spark again and are ready to bring the fire back!
With “A Star in Orbit Still’, THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES are not just back on track as if nothing happened in the years of their absence, but the Swedes return on top of their game and fully ready to climb new peaks!
Band: The Northern Territories
Album: A Star in Orbit Still
Style: Melancholic synth
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Label: Dependent Records
Review impact date: April 22, 2025
Line-up
John Alexander Ericson – vocals, instruments, electronics
Stefan Sääf – vocals, electronics
Links
www.facebook/thenorthernterritories
www.instagram.com/thenorthernterritories
Format
“A Star in Orbit Still” is available as a 2CD 48-page hardcover artbook; including cover versions of TWICE A MAN and NEIL DIAMOND on the bonus CD.
“A Star in Orbit Still” is available as a 2CD 48-page hardcover artbook; including cover versions of TWICE A MAN and NEIL DIAMOND on the bonus CD.