Formed by brothers William and Axel Mardberg in the remote, coastal Swedish town of Norrtälje, Isolated Youth has fast become a force in the subterranean goth scene. Joined by drummer Andreas Geidemark and bassist Elmer Hallsby, the band’s early EPs on legendary darkwave label Fabrika captured a raw, uncompromising sound, with Axel’s unbroken teenage voice soaring tearing through cavernous ambiance, interrupted by violent jolts of distortion.
The band’s debut album ‘miserere mei’, coming via Memorials of Distinction and Birthday Records, marks a pivotal moment for the band: a new era with Faris Badwan of The Horrors as mentor and co-producer. After finding himself enamored with the band’s earlier work, he reached out and became what William describes as "a lovely, weird, gothic uncle we never knew we had." His collaboration with Isolated Youth pushed them beyond their post-punk underground origins and towards something audibly bigger and bolder. Badwan brought in co-producer Max Heyes (Primal Scream, Rolling Stones), who describes the resulting record as “an actual, real rock album.” While retaining a dark edge, this is a record that sounds widescreen, ready for a bigger audience and larger stages. “With miserere mei, we had the freedom to explore and make choices we couldn’t before,” says William. “The collaboration with Faris and Max let us reshape ourselves.”
Isolated Youth began as an escape—a means for William, a former football player, to channel his energy into something different after an injury. “I just assembled the closest people around me,” he recalls, “and we started performing.” That small, intimate beginning has evolved into a profound, visceral expression of creativity and camaraderie. The sense of necessity filters through to the music. Axel, who was just 14 when the band played their first shows, often had to lie about his age to perform. He describes the experience of stepping on stage as transformative—a place where he and his brother reveal sides of themselves that remain hidden in everyday life. The album captures Axel’s evolution as a vocalist, which William notes has transformed not only the sound but also his approach to writing music. “Axel’s voice has clearly changed, and overall you can feel that the band has morphed into something different,” he explains. “Just finding our own voice as a group but also for Axel to find his new voice.”
The band’s early releases—Warfare (2019) and Iris (2020), both on Fabrika Records—helped establish them throughout the European underground, gaining praise for their intense style and lyrical depth. These releases put forward Isolated Youth as a band capable of delivering powerful, distortion-heavy sounds with a gothic edge. ‘miserere mei’, builds on those foundations, delivering an LP that is deeply shaped by the atmospheric Nordic landscape they grew up in, but projecting them towards new frontiers. Growing up in a small town with no real music scene, the Mardberg brothers were first exposed to music through their father’s car stereo, where they absorbed the sounds of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and The Stooges. This early exposure laid the groundwork for their instinct-driven sound. The band play with the light and darkness of their home region; from the icy hooks of 'Ghost Town' inspired by the desolate streets of Stockholm to the ghostly 'Psykosoma', conceived in a studio nestled in a forested graveyard. Throughout the album recording, they experimented with industrial elements, drum machines, vocoders, and even found metal percussion sourced from a nearby construction site. ‘miserere mei’ draws from an eclectic mix of influences, with more obvious touch points such as Nine Inch Nails, Iceage, and Joy Division rubbing shoulders with references to the likes of Nina Simone.
For William, the project intertwines with his current life as an artist. The album’s journey began with a large, personal painting that became the cover art, setting the tone for the music that followed. He describes the process as a kind of autofiction—a way to capture personal reflections and emotions visually before they became music. This layered approach brings an added depth to ‘miserere mei’, making it both an artistic and musical experience for listeners. The artistic experience extends to their live performances, which bring a confrontational energy; the band becoming an installation piece that challenges and immerses the crowd. For Isolated Youth, performing is an act of vulnerability and catharsis, a space where they are free to express themselves fully. As Axel describes it, each performance is “like telling all your innermost secrets to a large group of people, and then vanishing.”
With ‘miserere mei’, Isolated Youth continues to carve out their place in the post-punk landscape. This album is a testament to their growth, authenticity, and commitment to raw expression, ensuring they resonate with audiences seeking music that is both deeply personal and powerfully evocative.
