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Finnish rockers The Latebirds are back with a new album. RADIO INSOMNIA continues where the critically acclaimed Fortune Cookies and Latebird albums left off in 2003 – from stadium rockers to country twang, from catchy power pop to leftfield punk, from loud guitars to piano ballads – The Latebirds' music stands for dynamic presentation and 110% deliverance.

Most of the new album’s twelve tracks were initially born in the USA. The Latebirds singer/guitarist/songsmith MARKUS NORDENSTRENG has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles during the last couple of years, enjoying sunny California while the rest of the band members have been forced to cope with the sub-zero temperatures of their hometown Helsinki . Occasionally, Markus would be joined in America by the rest of the group – drummer JANNE HAAVISTO, bass player MIKKO MÄKELÄ, organ/guitar player MATTI PITSINKI and lead guitarist JUSSI JAAKONAHO – to play dates at SXSW, CMJ, Toronto International Film Festival, as well as club tours in California and on the East Coast with their friends Laika & The Cosmonauts. Over the years The Latebirds have also played shows together with artists like Patti Smith, Wilco, The Posies, The Jayhawks, Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and The Soundtrack Of Our Lives guys, not forgetting the arena shows the band played with none other than Bon Jovi five years ago. In other words, the Latebirds have seen a lot in their lifetime. 

After one of their recent US tours, The Latebirds found themselves recording new tracks in a studio just outside of Woodstock , NY . Seven new songs were cut in less than five days, with producers Ken Coomer and Charlie Brocco sitting behind the control room’s old Neve console. The rest of the songs were recorded in various studios back home in Finland with producer Lasse Kurki. The album was eventually mixed in Nashville by Charlie Brocco, and mastered in NYC by Scott Hull.

Radio Insomnia was captured live in the studio, making it very much a full band effort. It was a conscious decision to go for a more organic approach after the previous two Latebirds albums’ multi-layered sound, which exploited the wonders of modern technology and overdubbing. This time all the band-members played and made noise together in the studio's spacious live room and these live performances were recorded directly onto 2" magnetic tape. Even some of the live vocal takes were so good that they ended up on the album just as they were captured in the first place.

The Latebirds frequent travels around the new continent provided ideas for new songs as well as firm friendships their peers. Some of  these talented co-conspirators even ended up playing and singing on Radio Insomnia: Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star), John Stirratt (Wilco), just to name a few. 

Markus explains: “We all grew up listening to American music – from Johnny Cash to Elvis and Chuck Berry, from Bob Dylan and The Band to The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, from Stax soul to Big Star, Motown to MC5, from the Ramones to the Replacements, REM and so on. You can’t really escape American culture, even when growing up in a place as remote as Finland . It can be a drag to meet your heroes sometimes, but when you get to work with the very people you literally grew up listening to, and they turn out to be really great human beings, it’s a big deal. And it certainly makes you wanna work harder. But then again, I don't think any of these people would've ended up playing or socializing with us in the first place, had they thought we sucked as a band or as people. I guess it's just a case of mutual respect and musical brotherhood.”

“Making Radio Insomnia was like living in a Paul Auster novel at times,” laughs Markus. “You would find yourself in a strange studio in a strange town in a strange land, recording strange songs, with strange guys watching behind your back. Yet you would feel totally at ease with all this strangeness around you, and then create something that could never be created again. And once you’ve listened to the whole record from start to finish, all the little details and twists in the story start hopefully making sense, including its title.”