Makthaverskan will have to write some phenomenal songs in their time if they want to ever overcome being the band with the song that goes, “fuck you for fucking me / when I was 17.” The Swedish post-punk band might not know it yet, but lyrics with that level of emotional baggage are poised to send hearts collapsing into shoes.
“No Mercy” is the sound of catharsis obtained by shouting a theraputic discovery at the top of one's lungs. Lead singer Maja Milner sounds as though she had a breakthrough with her therapist and delivered to her bandmates. The lyrics have solved all the internal conflict that has burdened relationships since her youth and innocence was coaxed away. It's a song that will give women knowing empathy and perhaps peace of mind, while men are offered a rare glimpse into a psyche that exists because of our hubris. As devious as we are presented in “No Mercy”, the anthemic swell should supplant the guilt trip. Milner believes in karma though, “You never loved me / You wanted to own me / Your time will come, my friend.”
Makthaverskan's “No Mercy” is off II, which is getting a US release thanks to Run For Cover on May 6.
Read on for a brief interview with bassist Irma Krook.
“No Mercy” touches upon a very significance moment in a girl's loss of youth and innocence. Is the person who possibly inspired this song aware of its existence and if so, has there been any discourse as a result?
I'm not sure if he knows, haha, perhaps if Maja have told him. So I don't know the aftermath, but they're friends this day, so it shouldn't have been too bad. The lyrics in the song are so great just because you can apply them at your own personal experiences, which makes the words feel like your own for anyone who listens to it. The lyric, “fuck you for fucking me” is right on I think.
For someone who can relate to the content in “No Mercy” is there any advice you'd want to put out there in sympathy?
Boring answer: time will heal all wounds. It maybe won't heal throughout, but everything will be easier if you give yourself time.
Remember to always be kind to yourself and that you're the most important person in your own life!
This album has been over a year in the making, when did it get completed and can you tell us about the recording process? How did you know it was completed?
We finished up in the studio in the beginning of 2013, I believe it was February? But I'm not sure, haha. Sent it off to mastering and mixing, while I started working on the cover for the album.
We had a deal with the studio that we could use it whenever it was available, which wasn't very often, so the recording was very spread out. For example, we were there in the beginning of 2012, recorded some songs, returned during the summer and thought what we already had done was shit, haha. And Maja lives in Berlin, so it wasn't always we could go to the studio since you need a bit of planning if one in the band is flying from Germany to Sweden.
But the last weekend we spent there it started falling in to its place. I noticed that I didn't grow tired of listening to the same song for hours while we added additions to the song, so it was mostly a feeling that we were (finally) done.
How did the release under Run For Cover come to fruition? Were you familiar with RFC prior to the release agreement?
They contacted our record label here in Sweden and wished to sign us. Which we of course wanted to. I don't know how they found us, but grateful that they did, haha. I hadn't personally heard about Run for Cover before, but I noticed that there were some of their other signed artists I recognized when I looked them up properly, like Citizen and Basement.
Are there plans to play any U.S. dates this summer or in the near future?
We'd love to tour in the U.S.! There aren't anything decided just yet, but hopefully we'll plan something soon!
Makthaverskan's II is out May 6 on Run For Cover.
