Les Big Byrd Release New Single “Big Flood”

Stockholm quartet, Les Big Byrd are back with their eagerly anticipated fifth album, Ruin Everything, out 5th June on Chimp Limbs and today release the second single, “Big Flood”. 

Led by frontman Jocke Åhlund (Teddybears, Caesars), Les Big Byrd have established themselves as one of the premier Nordic rock acts over the past decade with their distinct blend of psych, kraut and melodic sensibilities.

“We all know what’s coming,” sings Jocke Åhlund on “Big Flood”, the epic centrepiece to the album. The track reckons with Ragnarök, the Norse mythological prophecy of the apocalypse, which is fitting; Ruin Everything is informed by the world around it, and accordingly, it swirls with dystopian portent. 

“Believe it or not, ‘Big Flood’ is about Ragnarök, at least lyrically” explains Åhlund. “Not the Marvel movie about MC Hammer – but the Norse mythology around the apocalypse. Essentially, many of us Swedes believe the prophecies that Jörmungandr, a fairly large sea serpent, will be the one to trigger the end of the world, and submerge the earth under the ocean. These lyrical themes tied in perfectly with our more unconscious musical influences, namely the Swedish “dansband” culture, which is heavily nodded to with the opening three chords played through a built in Vox tremolo.”

The four-piece, comprising Jocke Åhlund, bassist Frans Johansson, keyboardist Christian Olsson and drummer Nino Keller, have marked themselves out as one of Sweden’s most consistently thrilling rock outfits with their willingness to counterbalance experimental psych odysseys with irresistibly straightforward pop songs. “I can never stop myself from writing melodies,” explains Åhlund.

“I don’t really enjoy singing that much, but there ended up being quite a few vocal tracks on this record.” In that respect, the band continue in the same vein as 2023’s Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain; they pick up where they left off with pulsating opener “Hökvind” which sees the guitars and synth lines spiral skywards on a track with a title that Åhlund wryly notes translates into English as ‘Hawkwind’.

Ruin Everything was recorded in Sollentuna in northern Stockholm, in a studio steeped in rich Swedish music history. Cornelis Vreeswijk, Pugh Rogefeldt and Monica Zetterlund have all recorded there – 50 years of Swedish music history lingered in both the walls and the analog equipment. And just like in the old days, Les Big Byrd aimed to preserve a live feel in the music. “We wanted to capture a certain feeling we’ve had, something that’s wonderful about the band, four people playing together and what arises between us,” says Åhlund.

2026 marks fifteen years since Les Big Byrd’s debut single, and they show no sign whatsoever of slowing down. With a unique musical blueprint already in place, the focus has none tuned to perfecting their sound. The band describe Ruin Everything as “peak Les Big Byrd,” and as Åhlund puts it, “we’re late bloomers. It’s finally starting to look like something!”