The Northern Territories reveal the final advance single !Arizona!, which is taken from the forthcoming new full-length A Star in Orbit Still. The fourth album from the Swedish melancholic synth duo has been chalked up for release on May 23, 2025.
They band comment, “As the title suggests, this song was started in Arizona, on a road trip through the desert on the way to Mexico, while passing cities like Sedona and Tucson on the way to Puerto Peñasco, on the Gulf of California”, singer Stefan Sääf writes on behalf of the duo. “Following our return to Europe, the working title ‘Arizona’ remained although the song changed somewhat. The idea to start the song a cappella was a last minute thought when we were mixing the track. We had just watched Bon Iver’s amazing live version of ‘Heavenly Father’ and that might have inspired the idea to start with only vocals.”
After a record breaking hiatus of 25 years, The Northern Territories are back for good. The Swedish melancholic synth duo has used the time well to hone their musical prowess and to think hard about how they wanted their unique sound to come across in the present.
As a result of this intense thought process, the stunning album A Star in Orbit Still combines everything that made the band great and generated a dedicated and loyal following that eagerly awaited their return during all those years with a contemporary sound design. Channelling their trademark melancholy and Nordic knack for captivating melodies, The Northern Territories did not even shy away from covering Lana Del Rey’s iconic track ‘Say Yes to Heaven’ and to make it theirs.
When the Swedish duo disbanded after the release of their third full-length “Satellite People” in 1999, they left behind many a broken heart in the electronic music scene that was mourning the loss of a one of a kind band with a unique sonic appearance. The Northern Territories’ combination of outstanding song writing with a strong melancholic Nordic tint as well as semi-acoustic, semi-electronic instrumentation created their very own version of a dreampop soundscape.
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The Northern Territories began to take shape in the early nineties in the Swedish province Uppland where in modern times nothing ever happens and probably never will. The band took the inspiration for their name from the Stephen King bestseller “The Talisman”, in which ‘Northern Territories’ describes an area in a fictional parallel world. This made perfect sense to the Scandinavians.
Two quiet teens from Uppsala, a royal town in the age of the Vikings but in medieval times losing out to Stockholm, began bonding over a shared taste for electronic music. Before too long, vocalists and electronic musicians John Alexander Ericson and Stefan Sääf produced a demo tape that mysteriously turned up on the desk of a surprised record label boss in Berlin.
One phone call as well as some signatures later, and The Northern Territories were given the opportunity to release their debut album ‘Midnight Ambulance’ in 1994. The sophomore full-length ‘Orange Moon’ followed in 1997. While the first two releases are generally classified as synth pop, the Swedes began to include more guitars in their music, which became audible on the third album “Satellite People”.
After the duo split up, John Alexander Ericson started a solo career and relocated to Berlin, where meanwhile both members live. Stefan Sääf focused on sound engineering in his own studio. Yet more than a quarter of a century later, The Northern Territories found their spark again and are ready to bring the fire back!
With A Star in Orbit Still, The Northern Territories are not just back on track as if nothing happened in the years of their absence, but the Swedes return on top of their game and fully ready to climb new peaks!
Pre-orders of A Star in Orbit Still are available now
