Boy With Apple at Pustervik concert review: a new voice in Gothenburg’s dream pop scene
Emerging from Gothenburg’s vibrant indie scene, Boy With Apple have quickly established themselves as one of the more intriguing new names in Scandinavian dream pop and shoegaze. Formed in 2019, the quartet began releasing music the following year and soon gained attention for their lush blend of hazy guitars, shimmering synths and ethereal vocal harmonies. Their sound sits somewhere between classic shoegaze and modern indie pop, drawing comparisons to genre pioneers such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive while retaining a distinctly contemporary edge.
The band consists of bassist Saga Fransson, keyboardist Zara Henriksson, and guitarists Tim Hedlund and Jonas Normark. Rather than relying on a traditional drummer, Boy With Apple frequently use programmed rhythms that merge electronic and organic elements into a hypnotic groove. Vocal duties are shared between Fransson and Henriksson, an arrangement that adds an extra layer of texture to the band’s already immersive sound.
Their debut album Attachment, released in 2024, introduced listeners to their dreamy, noise-pop aesthetic. The follow-up album Navigation is scheduled for release in April 2026 and promises to expand the band’s sonic palette while maintaining the atmospheric guitar soundscapes that define their style.
A fitting Valentine’s Day soundtrack
On Valentine’s Day 2026, Boy With Apple brought that sound to the stage at Pustervik, where they opened the evening for Sahara Hotnights. The pairing was an intriguing one. Sahara Hotnights are known for their stripped-down garage rock energy, while Boy With Apple inhabit almost the opposite end of the sonic spectrum.
Surrounded by a small forest of cables, pedals and synthesisers, the band delivered a set drenched in dreamy textures and swirling distortion. Their music floated between dense shoegaze walls of sound and melodic indie pop, with fuzz-soaked guitars intertwining with shimmering synth lines and steady electronic beats. The result was a rich blend of analogue warmth and digital precision that gradually filled the room with a hypnotic atmosphere.
Shoegaze romance in full effect
The Valentine’s Day setting felt particularly fitting. With a band name like My Bloody Valentine hovering in the background of the genre, it was hard not to appreciate the coincidence. Boy With Apple’s sound frequently echoes the swirling guitar textures and hazy emotional tone that defined the shoegaze pioneers of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
At the same time, the band fits comfortably into the recent resurgence of the genre. Shoegaze has enjoyed a renewed wave of interest in recent years, often labelled “nu-gaze”, where a new generation of artists revisit the dreamy distortion and atmospheric songwriting of the original movement.
Boy With Apple lean slightly more towards classic dream pop and traditional shoegaze than many of their contemporaries, but for listeners familiar with the genre it is refreshing to hear a young band carrying the sound forward.
A brief but immersive set
Over the course of a concise 35–40 minute set, Boy With Apple performed eight songs that offered a glimpse into both their existing catalogue and possible upcoming material. Highlights included the shimmering opener “Green Eyes”, the hypnotic “Feeble”, and the beautiful single “Julia”. Tracks such as “Strawberry” and “Iceage” further showcased the band’s ability to balance melody with waves of distortion.
Two songs listed on the stage setlist remained something of a mystery. One was titled “Jonas”, possibly a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s guitarist, while the closing track “OMW” also appeared to be unreleased material.
Full Pustervik setlist
- Green Eyes
- Jonas
- Feeble
- Julia
- Strawberry
- BTTS (likely “Brighter Than the Sun”)
- Iceage
- OMW
A promising glimpse of what’s to come
Even within the limited time typical of a support slot, Boy With Apple managed to create an immersive atmosphere that gradually pulled the audience into their sonic world. Their blend of shimmering dream pop melodies, layered guitar textures and steady electronic rhythms felt both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.
With their upcoming album Navigation set for release later this spring, the Gothenburg quartet seem poised to take the next step. If the material presented at Pustervik is anything to go by, Boy With Apple are well on their way to becoming a notable new name within Sweden’s growing shoegaze and dream pop scene. For anyone with a soft spot for hazy guitars and atmospheric indie pop, this was a thoroughly enjoyable set. And if you get the chance to see Boy With Apple live, it is a recommendation that comes easily.
This show was shot with
Camera bodies
- Sony a7 IIIMidrange/closeup shots (pit/crowd)
- Sony a7R IIWideangle shots (pit)
Camera lenses
- Tamron 16-30mm f2.8Wideangle Zoom
- Samyang 35-150mm f2–2.8Midrange/Telephoto Zoom
Concert photo gallery
