The Radio Dept. are a Swedish indie pop outfit perhaps best known for their 2010 album Clinging To a Scheme. “Occupied” is one of the band’s first new tracks in years and, clocking in at over seven minutes, it almost seems like the band is making up for lost time. This is an epic dance track, reminiscent of Robyn and Royksopp‘s collaboration on last summer’s Do It Again EP. “Occupied” is packed to the gills, fit with foreboding synths straight out of “Billie Jean” that play as occasional interstitials between pulsing moments of pure, low-tempo dance pop. This is a big, ambitious song and although it might not always have the energy to meet this ambition (at times appearing stuck between danceable and lushly ambient without the satisfying drops to marry them), The Radio Dept. have made a loud statement to anyone who might have forgotten about them.
The Radio Dept. “Occupied”
