Two years ago, what Henrik Appel intended as a side project ended up becoming a full-scale re-invention. After years spent establishing himself as one of the key figures of Stockholm’s punk underground - cutting his teeth on bass with Martin Savage Gang and fronting his own outfit, Li-on’s Den - he released his first solo record, Burning Bodies, in 2018. It immediately raised the prospect of a follow-up and, when attempts to regroup with Lion’s Den to work on a sophomore album ended in the band’s amicable split, Appel returned to the solo coalface to think about what he wanted to say next. Humanity was written over the course of more than a year, but like Burning Bodies, it was recorded in just four days at Studio Cobra, with Martin ‘Konie’ Ehrencrona again handling production duties. Many aspects of the album’s construction remained the same as last time out - including the contribution of Emma Lind, who again has co-written lyrics on several tracks - but the nature of Humanity is markedly different; as a musician and as a storyteller, it is the sound of one of Sweden’s leading underground lights embracing new possibilities. In turning his gaze outward, Appel has produced a deeply empathetic record at a time when we need it most - and expanded his own horizons in the process.