The Search
Formed in 1999 as The Silverslut, the Swedish band The Search recorded six EP’s under that name before changing to The Search in connection with the release of their 2004 eponymous album. Released to critical acclaim, the band toured the country and went back into the studio to record the bleak “Bloodbathe and Bazaar of Lush Loose Limbs”, released two years later and showcased a more introverted side to band. Following its release, shows were played abroad in the UK and Denmark.
The calmer, more organic lo-fi effort “Deranged Minds Unite” came out the following year. “Saturnine Songs”, released in 2008, resulted in tours in Germany and the Netherlands, further expanding the band’s fanbase. Two albums were released in 2011. First, the 35 track album “The Silverslut 2000-2002”, containing all songs recorded prior to the band’s debut album. A few months later “The Search For Connection Contact And Community” hit the shelves. The album found its way to the hearts of many new fans.
The band underwent a major shift in its line-up prior to the 2012 album “Staying Alive In A Country Industrialized”, which explains the radical sonic difference from their previous effort. Whereas the previous album had slower and longer songs, this one focused on the pop side of the band. Shows were played in Germany with set lists covering the band’s whole career. Highly productive, The Search soon went back into the studio again to record “Our Need For Solace”, a sonic amalgam of all the band’s previous efforts combined with their strongest songwriting abilities to date.
As a trio the band went on to release the 2016 indie output "Songs About Losers", an album blending acoustic tracks with melodic pop songs.
The following three years saw The Search becoming a one-man project, with Razmig as the sole remaining member. The intimate demo collection "Echo" was recorded and released in 2017.
Exploring other forms of musical expression, Razmig went on to record two synthesizer-heavy albums in 2018 and 2020 – "A Wave from the Sidelines" and "Some Place Far Away" – respectively. Evidently two albums were needed to scratch that 1980’s itch. The records stemmed from an old urge to let loose and go over the top with the synthesizers, and with no one there to stop him.
In 2019 a new lineup of the band took shape with Erik Nyberg on bass and Johann Bernövall on drums, both former members of the band Light in Your Life. During the pandemic in 2020 Stephen Burt, an English guitarist of Spiral Motion fame, completed the band. Coinciding with the release of 2020’s "Heart’s Racing" – Razmig’s fourth solo effort – the band is currently in the rehearsing studio, exploring the band’s back catalogue as well material from Heart’s Racing, with the purpose of putting together a sort of best-of live repertoire for future gigs.
(Photo credits: Elizabeth Topalian/Jasmin Malla)
