Swedish experimental post-punk group the Skull Defekts formed in 2005. Clamorous and atonal in nature, the original lineup featured Daniel Fagerström, Henrik Rylander, Jean-Louis Huhta, and Joachim Nordwall for 2007’s Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing and 2009’s The Temple. In 2011, former Lungfish vocalist Daniel Higgs was brought into the fold as the fifth member and frontman. Peer Amid was released later that year on Thrill Jockey Records, the same label that put out Higgs' avant-garde solo work. The group entered the studio in 2013 with a few loose ideas, ironing them out into their sprawling-yet-catchy fourth album Dances in the Dreams of the Known Unknown. After a handful of live dates in support of the album, the band entered a new phase, marked by Huhta leaving the band and Higgs fading out as well to focus on his solo material. In 2016 the band began work on a new album, knowing by the time they entered the studio it would be their final recording. Wildbirds & Peacedrums member Mariam Wallentin joined on as a fourth member for the recording sessions, which were realized as a cathartic and explosive self-titled album in early 2018. ~ Jason Lymangrover