Swedish duo Red Cell have released Collide and Combine, a new single out on 6 November 2026 on Stupid Dream Records. On Bandcamp the band call it the first single from their upcoming album, which the press release puts in early 2027.
Red Cell are Jimmy Skeppstedt on vocals and lyrics and Stefan Aronsson on synthesizers and production. The release credits name them both, with Aronsson also producing, mixing and mastering the track.
According to the press release, the song went through several versions, from an explosive synthpop track to a stripped-back, almost ballad-like take, before the band found the energy that made it fall into place.
Skeppstedt built the lyric around one opening line, “I want to be your retirement.” As he explains it in the press release: “during a relationship you’ll collide with each other many times. You just have to survive, heal and move forward.”
Electrozombies heard echoes of Erasure and Pet Shop Boys in the track, carried by Skeppstedt’s deep baritone. The band’s own manifesto puts it differently: they call their sound Nordic Noir, melancholy you can dance to, and say they are not a nostalgia act but are chasing the perfect electronic pop song.
The duo started out in 2003 with industrial grit and guitars, moved through futurepop and dark electronics, and have since stripped things back to synthpop. The single’s sleeve is a pale, pink-toned collage of a classical bust torn open to show eyes, teeth and ribs.
Bandcamp – https://redcellmusic.bandcamp.com/track/collide-and-combine
Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/album/collide-and-combine/6819616049
Official site – https://redcell.nu/about/
Electrozombies – https://electrozombies.com/music/discover/red-cell-collide-and-combine/
Press release via Muzikmagazinet – https://muzikmagazinet.blogspot.com/2026/11/red-cell.html
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