Permafrost is a post-punk band formed by school friends Frode Heggdal Larsen & Kåre Steinsbu in the city of Molde (that was not a typo), Norway, that dates back to 1982. After some on-and-off periods and line-up changes, they could have passed under your radar. But they have new material coming out with Robert Heggdal, Trond Tornes, and Daryl Bamonte completing the line-up. Daryl is no stranger to the Depeche Mode world and was was interviewed by Home (parts 1 and 2 here).

Between Oslo, Trondheim, and London, all five of them worked remotely and Permafrost has an album coming up on their own Fear of Music label. They already have the self-produced single “Femme Fatale” out there to start melting the ice. It won’t disappoint fans of The Cure, The Mission, Joy Division… you get the picture.

One bit of trivia, though. The video has footage that Daryl shot while on tour with Depeche Mode in Tokyo, 1988. With some more material provided by Heggdal, the video can be checked below. Be sure to check the band’s Facebook page and Instagram account.

Mute are giving us another taste of new music from MG! Have a listen to the track “Howler” via the Official Audio video via Mute’s YouTube channel. “Howler” is taken from the forthcoming EP, ‘The Third Chimpanzee’, and will be released 29 via Mute.

If you missed his first mix for Drop The Biscuit, they just posted up a brand new mix Martin L. Gore put together for them. It’s a good insight into what Martin has been listening to and maybe some hints at future remix producers for forthcoming MG releases? Mix includes tracks from Chris Liebing that features Gary Numan, Alex Somers, Throwing Snow, and more.

Have a listen here:

The 2021 Grammy Nominations were released and we were pleased to see that the MODE Box Set was nominated. It was nominated in the “Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package” category alongside releases from names like Wilco & The Greatful Dead. Congratulations to the MODE art director Jeff Schulz and Depeche Mode on this nomination!

Here’s the full list of Nominees:

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

• FLAMING PIE (COLLECTOR’S EDITION)
  Linn Wie Andersen, Simon Earith, Paul McCartney & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney)
   
• GIANTS STADIUM 1987, 1989, 1991
  Lisa Glines & Doran Tyson, art directors (Grateful Dead)
   
• MODE
  Jeff Schulz, art director (Depeche Mode)
   
• ODE TO JOY
  Lawrence Azerrad & Jeff Tweedy, art directors (Wilco)
   
• THE STORY OF GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL
  Michael Cina & Molly Smith, art directors (Various Artists)

See the complete list of all the 2021 Grammy Nominations here.