Lone Deer Laredo’s new single “Golden Chosen Playmate” plays a warm, high-octane burst of psychedelic folk that feels like stepping into a late-’60s jam session where everything just clicked.
The track’s charm lies in its simplicity. You can almost picture Paola and Olli in a room with a few friends, instruments in hand, chasing that spontaneous kind of magic that can’t really be faked. The sitar screams pure ’70s, while the strings—courtesy of Nashville heavyweight Chris Carmichael—add a cinematic layer without smothering the intimacy. And then comes that chorus: big, catchy, and impossible not to sing along with. It’s the kind of chorus that makes you want to grab the wheel, roll the windows down, and take the long way home.
I love the authenticity. There’s no sense of overproduction or forced cleverness—just the feeling of musicians in sync, letting the song carry them. That “let us take the road” energy hums through every second, balancing psychedelic haze with folk clarity. It’s music that remembers the joy of playing as much as the craft of recording.
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Of course, none of this comes out of nowhere. Lone Deer Laredo are a Finnish duo with a history as colourful as their sound. Paola grew up dreaming in denim (her father ran a jeans factory, no less) before founding the renowned indie fashion house Ivana Helsinki and directing feature films. Olli, meanwhile, cut his teeth on rock’n’roll, fronting New Silver Girl and working with producer Gordon Raphael of The Strokes fame. When the two reconnected, their worlds collided, and suddenly a band was born. Since then, they’ve been recording an ambitious seven-vinyl series in Nashville with Brad Jones (Dolly Parton, Josh Rouse), pulling Nordic folk sensibilities into dialogue with Americana roots. If “Golden Chosen Playmate” is a taste of what’s coming on vol. 3, we’re in for quite the ride.
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