Making use of these organic sounds and other “analog dirt” is foundational to an album that is the result of stored emotions, both internal and external for Jaunviksna, channeled into a series of love letters to people and situations that were left unended. She explains, “The soundscape has been crucial in getting my message across; what’s beautiful and vulnerable emerges through imperfection and letting yourself lose control. The record is a call to/for merciless, intuitive love, in an age where love is capitalized and being emotionally unavailable has become a desirable ideal. It’s a tribute to love in all its wonderful, brutal, mean, horny and embarrassing forms.” The result is an album that’s at once both meditative and restless, set against analogue compositions that thread new wave, warehouse dub, trip-hop, and disco into Badlands’ distinctly unconventional electronic pop. 

Jaunviksna started to explore analog MIDI and sampling as a teenager, eventually finding a home in the Dublin electro scene. Returning to Sweden, she formed Badlands to make home for her new electroacoustical fusions with vocals, releasing her first EP/mini album Battles Within (2012), followed by the album Locus (2016). After a few tough years, and a break from Badlands, the acclaimed album Djinn (2021) was released as a memorial to her late mother who had passed away under tragic circumstances in 2017. The DIY approach is crucial to the distinct Badlands sound, where Jaunviksna exclusively writes, records, produces and mixes all material. She is also the founder of the electronic record label and production company RITE based in the legendary Tambourine Studios (The Cardigans, Peter Bjorn & John) from where she also makes commissioned original music and sound designs for film and theater, as well as production and mixing work for other labels and artists. 

Photo Courtesy:  John Cowhie