Last Plane Out

In 1996, when Nils Erikson released his Swedish Grammy-nominated debut //Spår//, Anders Lundquist took a fateful call from Sony records. “The guy said, ‘You like Peter Gabriel, right?’ I said, ‘Well, my son’s name is Gabriel – that’s a clue!’” A music journalist, musician and lyricist, Lundquist was soon hired to write the bio for Erikson’s debut, and so began a beautiful friendship. “I couldn’t believe there was a Swedish artist up there with Bowie, Gabriel, David Sylvian and all those guys”, says Lundquist today, when he and Erikson join //Prog// via Zoom. “Nils should be a household name by now.”
Happily, proper recognition may now beckon. Last Plane Out’s self-titled debut is an elegant, thought-provoking pop-prog record which sees Erikson – more recently of Swedish proggers Karmakanic – handle vocals and write the music, and Lundquist – formerly of heavy prog band Future Elephants? (sic) – write the words.

“When Anders gives me a lyric it’s like having a short-cut to my own heart”, says Erikson, and that much is clear listening to Last Plane Out’s debut single //Making Her Smile//. A wistful gem part inspired by the duo’s experiences of going through divorces as younger men, it features Jonas Reingold of Karmakanic and Steve Hackett’s band on lead-guitar and bass, but Erikson plays everything else on the LP.
Asked about their debut’s long gestation, Erikson says it was a question of “gathering the right songs over time.” He worked on the music alongside a horse at his converted-stable home studio, while Lundquist, travelling the world interviewing other musicians, penned lyrics in Paris, New York, and on a bench in London’s Hyde Park. The duo’s name, meanwhile, echoes the title of US prog band Toy Matinee’s biggest song, and the album is dedicated to Toy Matinee’s late frontman, Kevin Gilbert.
“I actually met him in Tokyo”, says Erikson of Gilbert, who died in 1996 aged 29. “Both of the bands we were in were part in this international competition. I had appendicitis, and while the other acts were feasting and go-karting with the [judging panel], me and Kevin just hung-out on the tourbus. We really connected.”

With //Tales Of A Flower Maiden// tapping dark, Swedish folk and classical influences and //Nobody Else, No// – a duet with Swedish-Iranian singer Aida Jabbari -joining the dots between A-ha and Tears for Fears, Last Plane Out’s music has already drawn praise from Abba’s Benny Andersson, no less, and Hasse Fröberg of Swedish proggers The Flower Kings.
The album’s brilliant closer //Leave A Light On// is dedicated to late sisters Josefin Nilsson and Marie Nilsson-Lind of Swedish band Ainbusk, who, with Erikson and Lundquist’s full approval, had previously recorded their own completely different version of the song.

“Josefin passed in 2016, and Marie passed in January 2024, just a week after she’d given us her blessing to release our original version”, says Lundquist.
“I’d given them the music and Marie was kind enough to give it back”, adds Erikson. “We thought it a nice gesture to dedicate //Leave A Light On// to them.”

PROG FILE

LINE-UP: Nils Erikson (vocals, keyboards, programming etc.), Anders Lundquist (lyrics)

SOUNDS LIKE: Eloquent and classy pop-prog with shades of David Bowie, ELO, Peter Gabriel and more.

CURRENT RELEASE: //Last Plane Out// is out April 26 (streaming platforms) and May 31 (vinyl) via S-Rock.

WEBSITE: www.facebook.com/last.plane.outSE

— James McNair