We caught up with Solence frontman Markus Videsäter before the band took to the stage at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, supporting Nothing More on their first ever London show. They did not disappoint. Solence unified the crowd and had the entire room chanting “Who you gonna call? Solence!” back at the stage! Watching the Swedish electronic metal quartet win over a packed crowd felt like witnessing a band on the verge of something bigger.
Earlier that day, the band had been exploring Camden, grabbing burgers and soaking up rare London sunshine. When we sat down with Markus before soundcheck, he was relaxed but visibly buzzing about what lay ahead, both the show that evening and the imminent release of their fifth album, Angels Calling.
Music From the Start
For Solence, music was never really a choice. Markus explains that growing up in a musical household meant instruments were simply part of the furniture. He’s been singing since he can remember, and was playing trumpet by the age of seven.
“David and the others are one year older than me,” Markus recalls. “They created the band when they started at school, and when I arrived they were like, ‘Dude, we heard you’re great, you should join.’ So that’s how it happened.”
What strikes you talking to Markus is how natural their creative process feels. There’s no grand strategy meeting about what Solence should sound like. “We’ve never sat down and thought about how we should sound,” he says. “It just comes out. We do all the songwriting, production, and mixing ourselves. Whatever’s in our heads is what comes out.”
From Quantum of Solace to Solence
Before they were Solence, they had another name entirely, until another Swedish band contested it.
“We had a really hard time making a decision over the new name. I was so into metalcore at the time, all these Bring Me The Horizon and Asking Alexandria-inspired names,” Markus laughs. “Then David was watching Quantum of Solace, the James Bond film, and just thought ‘solace’ sounded cool. We changed a few letters and that was it.”
He’s honest about the practical implications: “It’s stupid and weird and no one can spell it. Terrible for marketability. But we’re in it deep now.”
Angels Calling: Living Before Heaven Calls You Home
The new album, Angels Calling, arrives via Better Noise Music with a philosophy that runs through everything Solence do: live fully, without regrets, because none of us know when our time is up.
“For some reason, I’ve always felt like my time on earth is limited,” Markus admits. “Our music is about making the most of life, relationships, and passion before heaven calls us home. You could fall down the stairs literally today. You could get hit by a truck. So you just have to keep doing what you want to do and not waste time.”
It could sound morbid, but it doesn’t. There’s something genuinely life-affirming about the way Solence approach their message. The motivational aspect isn’t forced, but rooted in an honest acknowledgment that time is finite.
Honesty in the Lyrics
One thing that we really appreciate in alternative music is genuine honesty, the willingness to say things not everyone is comfortable saying. Angels Calling doesn’t shy away from difficult emotions. Take ‘Wish You The Worst,’ a track that’s already resonated with fans.
“That song is not positive, it’s more like ferocity,” Markus explains. “There are people in your life who have been horrible to you, and you wish them the absolute worst because the things you’ve been through have been horrible. That song is me prioritising myself enough to say: I’m not abandoning myself. I’m not bending the knee. This is me taking a stand. I know my limitations, I know my boundaries.”
Speaking of boundaries, it’s a theme that comes up repeatedly. Markus admits it’s something he personally struggles with, describing himself as a people pleaser who wants to be nice to everyone. But he’s learning.
“My bandmates and I have been to therapy. There are things you can do to find peace.”
Monsters In My Head
That willingness to sit with uncomfortable feelings extends to ‘Monsters In My Head,’ one of the album’s standout tracks. It’s a song about the thoughts that creep in when everything goes quiet.
“Even if you’re trying your best, you’ll be feeling like there’s always things haunting you,” Markus explains. “Maybe things that happened to you. Especially at night, you’re getting these thoughts. It’s happening to everybody.”
The song comes from what Markus describes as “a feeling perspective” rather than storytelling. “It’s very much about hoping people see things your way,” he says. It’s that 3am vulnerability, the spinning thoughts and replayed mistakes that most of us know too well but rarely talk about openly. The fact that Solence are willing to put that into their music is part of what makes them connect to people.
MESS
Another standout track, ‘MESS,’ tackles something Markus sees as a generational issue: the tendency to point fingers rather than look inward.
“Our generation does the blame game a lot,” he says. “People try to find faults with others instead of looking into themselves and thinking ‘I should work on this.’ We’re all blaming each other, ‘you did this to make me feel this way’, but that doesn’t work. You need to be able to stand up for yourself and say ‘that’s fine, it doesn’t bother me.’ The song is about how we all try to find someone to put the blame on to get out of our own mess.”
Self-Produced and Self-Expressed
What makes Solence’s approach distinctive is their insistence on handling everything themselves. They wake up and produce music almost every day, constantly refining songs. It means the music is deeply personal, there’s no outside influence filtering their emotions.
“We don’t sit down and talk about our feelings explicitly,” Markus says. “It’s literally what we have inside of us, and there’s no one else there. So it just comes out.”
He makes an interesting observation about modern metal: while he respects bands who work with big name producers, he thinks something gets lost when artists aren’t fully steering their own ship. “The most interesting part is when artists are actually talking about what they’re going through, their perspective, their thoughts. A lot of bands seem to talk about the same stuff in the same ways. It would be cool to see more acts making their own craft.”
What’s Next
Before we wrap up, Markus has news to share: Solence have announced a headline European tour for April 2025, bringing Written By Wolves and Dreamstate along for the ride.
“It’s gonna be a party,” he grins. “Don’t miss out.”
I ask him one final question: what would seven-year-old Markus with his trumpet think of all this?
“I think he would be confused,” he laughs, “but I think he would be very proud and very happy with his older version of himself.”
Having witnessed what Solence can do as support, the thought of them headlining is exciting. This is a band that genuinely wants to lift people up, and they’ve got the songs, the energy, and the authenticity to do it.
Angels Calling is out now via Better Noise Music.
