Pearly Drops

About

" A hazy, blissful ride through alt pop’s outer reaches "

It’s a tricky word, “pop”. Hard to pin down; a word that can mean anything and everything. Are Finnish duo Pearly Drops pop? Well, yes – obviously. But also: no, not at all. “We were told quite often that we’re ‘too experimental’ for the pop crowd, and in turn ‘too pop’ for fans of experimental,” they said at the end of last year. Quite right they are, too, for the duo – Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin – swirl a deliciously hazy mix of dreamy, soft soundscapes, polished synths, washed-out vocals, intriguing guitar lines, and a general air of 80s nostalgia into something that’s as blissful as it is engaging.

Musically, it’s of a piece with the broad-brush stroke, abstract images Tervonen creates for the band’s artwork: they are, after all, intended as visual interpretations of the songs. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a rehash of chillwave or some ironic, Gen Z version of C86 – there’s far too much substance here for that. Dealing with loss is a big theme of theirs, ditto self-reflection. Add in a healthy disdain for the hyper-stylised, Insta-glam vibes of so much of modern digital culture, and it’s clear there are two sharp brains behind this enigmatically beautiful music.

With a new album – their third – due later this year, and a much-anticipated slot at Eurosonic 2024, there’ll be plenty of chances to acquaint yourselves with Pearly Drops brilliance in all their creative endeavours. “To us, our music is an outlet of anything and everything,” they said in that same interview. “A comprehensive audiovisual world,” It’s certainly so much more than mere ‘pop’.