You could say Astropol is the latest supergroup to come from Sweden, considering their pedigree. The trio, made up of vocalist Bebban Stenborg (of the Shout Out Louds), Björn Yttling (of Peter Björn and John) and indie musician Smash, just barely formed last spring. And yet, their debut The Spin We’re In, out via the Swedish Artist Collective INGRID, is replete with loads of musical expertise. The 10-song set is driven by thoughts of love and loss, wrapped up in a sophisticated indie pop package full of singalong hooks and driving beats. Stenborg says being in Astropol taught her “that sometimes the more elaborate you are, the less information you get across.” She gives her thoughts on making music in a “supergroup,” feminist lyrics and whether you’ll ever watch them live.

Hometown and homebase: Stockholm

How did Astropol’s three members meet?

Björn and Smash were old friends who used to make music together a while back. They met up to write songs four years ago and they ended up calling me for thoughts on how to proceed. They played me some of what they had come up with and I thought we should start a band based on what I heard, so we did.

Why are you called Astropol?

It means star city, we were picturing a place that looks warm and alive from a distance but when you arrive there it's this cold and petrified place.

This album has a lot of that type of contrast. Like describing a relationship between two living things from the outside would probably tell an entirely different story than if the description came from someone in the actual relationship.

You're all already successful within your own musical projects. What made you want to form a band together?

I can only speak for myself, but I was ready to try on a different suit and I think Björn was too. All Smash really wants to do in life is play music so he was suited up and ready to go before anyone else.

Who are the band's biggest musical influences?

Cocteau Twins, Mink DeVille, The Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell and Suicide.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

I've heard us described as Roy Orbison waking up with a hangover as a naked woman in a Sputnik. It's pretty spot on.

Does living in Sweden have an impact at all on your music? (I'm sure you get asked that a lot considering that so many great pop acts are from Sweden.)

That's hard to answer since we will never know what we would sound like if we were from any other place. Sweden is a good place for music though. At least it has been for us because we have access to so many other musicians and people who care about music.

Does being considered a Swedish supergroup inform your creative process at all?

Supergroup seems to be a word that gets thrown around every time someone who has ever made music in any other constellation makes music with new people. In this case we have concluded that Björn could probably make music with a pebble and they would be considered a supergroup. So no, we don't really feel a strong connection with that epithet.

Why is your album called The Spin We're In? What does it mean? What themes were you working on when making it?

I was watching the movie Bus Stop a long time ago, where Marilyn Monroe plays a singer at some diner. It's a pretty bad movie, but there is something about Marilyn Monroe in it that haunts me. Something about her in general probably. She is like the epitome of exemplary femininity doing its absolute worst do a person. In the movie she sings "That Old Black Magic" with some kind of a bad Ozarks accent and her singing the line "...loving the spin that I'm in..." made me really heartsick. Coming from her I suddenly felt like I knew what that line meant. It's the same thing this album means to me.

Aside from your bandmates, who else would you love to collaborate with?

I would love to write a song with Leonard Cohen. I love his poetry.

It’s been said that Astropol's songs were created around the poetics of feminism...can you elaborate on that?

I don't recognise those exact words, but in any creative work I do my thoughts revolve a lot around gender and equality from an intersectional perspective. That sounds boring, but for me it's extremely exciting. I'm very interested in what it means to belong to a gender, and I am fascinated with the concept of a weaker sex. How does femininity and masculinity manifest themselves in lyrics and sounds, when is it considered positive or negative? All of that has been very present in my contributions to this album. I want anyone to be able to listen to our music and not have to hear pre-assigned gender roles in it. No drama about it, that's just the way I need it to be.

What's the craziest thing about Astropol that you'd like to share so far?

The weirdest thing when it comes to us might be that we have no shows planned and can't say for sure that we will ever play in front of an audience.