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Hater initially followed in the long tradition of sparklingly clean Swedish indie pop like the Concretes and Club 8. They aren't afraid to get a little dark in their ultra-melodic songs, however, and in vocalist Caroline Landahl the band have a singer who can go beyond bittersweet and into real sadness when the need arises, as their debut album, 2018's Siesta, proved. After some lineup changes, the group convincingly swung in the direction of jagged post-punk and heavy shoegaze on 2022's Sincere. Comprising Landahl (who also plays guitar and keyboards), guitarist Måns Leonartsson, bassist Adam Agace, and drummer Lukas Thomasson, all of whom had experience playing in other bands in the city, Hater began recording their first single almost immediately after forming. With producer Joakim Lindberg at the helm, they recorded a three-song EP and soon signed with Swedish label PNKSLM, which released the EP in July 2016. By the time the record was out, Hater were back in the studio working with Lindberg for a full album. The finished product, You Tried, was released by PNKSLM in July 2017, and the band soon went on tour with the Radio Dept. The album garnered a lot of positive press and also caught the ear of London's Fire Records, which signed them to a contract. The band's first release for the label was a four-song EP, Red Blinders, which came out in December 2017. Hater headed out on a headlining tour of Europe, then retreated with Lindberg to Studio Sickan outside Malmö to begin recording their second album. The bandmembers worked together to come up with a more diverse batch of songs, with influences ranging from widescreen synth pop to sparse post-punk ballads. Siesta was issued in September 2018 by Fire Records, and the group launched another headlining tour of Europe and the U.K. The band lost two key members after this: bassist Agace was replaced by Frederick Rundquist, and drummer Thomasson was replaced by Rasmus Andersson. Both musicians are members of the post-punk revival band FEWS, and the switch infused the group with newfound energy. They changed their sound accordingly, dropping the New Order-style basslines, cranking up the guitars, and dialing up the drama in Linadahl's vocals. The first clue the band dropped to the shift was the June 2021 single "Bad Luck." Almost a year later, the full Joakim Lindberg-produced album Sincere was released on Fire. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi