Time is a shapeshifter. Huge when you have it to spare; miniscule when we wish we could slow down. It’s this dual tension – slackening, then unbearably tightening – which enlivens För Allting (‘forever’ in English), the fourth record by the Swedish post-punk group Makthaverskan.

För Allting represents the first time Makthaverskan have enlisted a producer (they selected HOLY’s Hannes Ferm) and the results are wonderful. The band’s signature raw-edged, jangly guitars are realised anew here, gifted a bold largesse by turns propulsive (This Time) and combative (Ten Days). This cinematic feel sets the stage for vocalist Maja Milner, who dexterously moves between shoegaze-imbued sighs and throaty, Debut-era Björk-isms (sometimes on the same track, as the standout Closer attests). Across För Allting, the band follow her difficult-to-categorise lead, referencing Cyndi Lauper and The Stone Roses by way of The Sundays, aptly invigorating their temporal subject matter with now-classic sounds.

The album hops around a relationship breakdown, tracing indignities from breakup-induced listlessness to the reverberating finality of a “last night” together, examined on the title track. This song seems to get at Makthaverskan’s central meaning best: one way or another, whether it feels slow or fast, there is always an end. But music is a good way to remember, to preserve. A song can be a moment crystallised, a method of making sure that time is never truly lost. An amber casing in which to keep it, if you like. För allting.

Lauren O’Neill