Victoria+Jean Debut Album 'Divine Love'

Swedish-Belgian avant-gritty-pop duo Victoria+Jean just announced a full stream of their highly anticipated album Divine Love that will be available via AllMusic starting Wednesday, April 27. Divine Love comes as a sequel to their four track V+J EP, and will be available for purchase Friday, April 29.

Meeting each other was a catalyst for greater things. Victoria, playing solo and in bands, was starting to believe that she would never make the music she loves. Things changed when she met Jean, and the two became Victoria+Jean - creatively and romantically.

The album's themes reflect their own shared lives and experiences. As well as the thread of divine love, the transient nature of their existence - of different cities and cultures - is clear. Victoria was born in Sweden, grew up in London before moving to Paris. An exploration of belonging and identity are all present.

The sleeve of Divine Love mentions some of today's greatest sound engineers, those mysterious sorcerers who toiled on some of their favorite records, including John Parish (P J Harvey), Ian Caple (Tricky, Tindersticks, Bashung), Christoffer Berg (Depeche Mode, The Knife, Fever Ray) and Rob Kirwan (U2, Depeche Mode, The Horrors), and the high priestess of mastering, Mandy Parnell. An eastern wind blows over the artwork in the form of Oleg Dou, an up and coming Russian contemporary artist.

Their love of blues-rock is evident in the brooding 'Why Won't You' and
'Takes You Like A Rose', while 'Your Baby Don't Know Me' is an explosive four minutes of fierceness. Throughout Divine Love there is a contrast between hard and soft but also within the songs, like 'Where We Belong', where serenity is punctured by bursts of punchy electric guitar and rising, powerful vocals. 'Härligt Sverige' is a shimmering and occasionally unnerving ode to the extremes of beauty and nature that shows the contradicting emotions in Victoria's relationship with her birth country.

Be sure to stream Divine Love via AllMusic starting Wednesday, April 27. The album is available for purchase starting Friday, April 29, via Cadence Music.