By: Malasha Parker
Q) How would you describe your sound?
A) I’d say my new album is organic, detail-oriented, driven by acoustic guitar and warm – without trying to be too agreeable.
Q) Who are some of the artists that influenced you when you were growing up?
A) Growing up music was always present in my home. My mom often woke me up with Joan Baez or Irish music and she played guitar herself – ballads full of tragic, dark, but also funny stories. I think this deeply influenced me and awakened my love for storytelling. The quality of her performance inspired me; she has a very natural approach. My siblings also listened to a wide range of music – from Regina Spektor to Linkin Park. My brother Oskar once gave me Kate Nash’s album Made of Bricks, which I played on repeat for weeks, often through the night.
Q) Your songs are filled with desperate raw emotion. How do you hope your signature sound connects listeners to your music?
A) This time around, I primarily wrote to get things off my chest – much like when I first started writing songs. It was a form of therapeutic cleansing. I can only hope that people see parts of themselves in these songs. The songs are very personal and honest, but I also worked hard to keep the lyrics open enough so that listeners can project their own experiences onto them. I try to stay away from getting too caught up in specific details – it’s more about the feeling and emotional truth behind the songs.
Q) “The Final Straw” opens your new album Refined Believer by showing that a new beginning was starting by breaking free of something. “Refined Believer” closes the album by finding a new place after going through all of those tumultuous experiences. The relationships and experiences are so well displayed in your music. How did the length of time working on this album help to enhance its quality?
A) The album is definitely meant to capture a personal journey. I found it quite funny to open the album with a track called “The Final Straw” – basically starting at a breaking point, which I experienced several years ago. While working on the album, I really had to sit down and figure out what was actually bothering me. Like many others, I sometimes find it hard to identify what I’m truly feeling. Since writing for me is very intuitive and spontaneous, it often reveals where I stand. Writing about my emotions and experiences was incredibly helpful. Of course, time heals and I worked on the album partly in London, which is a plane ride away from home – and also a plane ride away from past hurts. Both time and distance helped me a lot personally and I believe that this time also allowed the songs to mature and gain depth, which greatly enhanced the overall quality of the album.
Q) “With Love, Your Clementine” is a poetic soft song that elicits a sense of calming inspiration. What is the story behind this track?
A) “Have No Fear” is something my parents used to say to me when I was a kid and after a pretty emotionally challenging year, I wanted to remind myself of that sentiment. The song reflects a decision to be alone for a while – after being disappointed in romantic love and realizing that I needed to take a step back. It’s about finding peace in solitude and remembering that even difficult times eventually pass.
Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production process of your second studio album, Refined Believer?
A) Working on the album with David Kosten and Marian Plösch was incredibly freeing. It made me realize how much I’ve picked up over the years – and that I actually know what I want when it comes to production. At some point, David even called my manager and said he wanted me to have a production credit. I told him it wasn’t important to me, but he insisted, saying, “You’ve earned it.”
It meant a lot that both David and Marian took me seriously and gave me the space to make so many creative decisions. That kind of trust really helped me regain confidence in my artistic voice.
That said, I still couldn’t do what they do – all the technical knowledge, the endless patience, and putting up with artists like me. [laughs]
Q) Because this album is such an emotional one, how did you decide how much of yourself you wanted to share?
A) It’s not really a conscious decision, to be honest. When I write, I feel the need to be honest and raw – that’s just how it works for me. I’m glad that songwriting also allows for a poetic approach, which can naturally be more open to interpretation. I tend to write in that way – it never spells things out exactly.
Later on, in interviews that’s where I make more deliberate choices about what I want to share and what I’d prefer to keep to myself. For example, in “Gloria,” I more or less tell the story as it happened – you can learn a lot about her situation. But I’ll never disclose who Gloria actually is…
Q) Was there any song that was more difficult to write than the others?
A) The song I probably spent the longest time writing was “Like A Song” – which is kind of funny because the song is all about how easy it feels to be with this one person. I started writing it while on a European tour supporting Stu Larsen. We were staying at a house in Sweden and for the longest time the chorus began with “I’m here in Sweden” instead of what it is now: “There’s nothing sweeter.”
I think it took me so long because I really loved the idea and put a lot of pressure on myself. I finally finished it at around 4AM in the studio with Marian Plösch, right after I had said, “Let’s just go home – nothing’s working.” And then, suddenly, the whole chorus came together. The melody found its ending naturally, and the words just fell into place.
The verses, though, took me months to write after that. [laughs]
Q) Which song brings you the most joy on the album?
A) “Forever Blue” was one of the first songs I wrote for the album and it’s dear to my heart. It gave me a new direction and perspective. The song describes allowing a feeling to be present – that the sadness you feel will be there forever. Sometimes you just have to surrender to it and really feel it in order to move forward.
That’s why I also named my tour “Forever Blue Tour.” The theme of the tour was “American prom” – because as we get older, we often feel less intensely and drastically. In the hectic everyday life, there’s hardly time for those feelings. At my concerts I wanted to give people space to consciously feel all those emotions they usually push away – like maybe they did more in their teenage years.
At the end of every concert, I reveal a banner that says “Nothing lasts forever.” No feeling lasts forever – but you can let it go when you look at it and allow it.
Q) What do you hope lingers with audiences that explore this new album as a whole – either as a message or an emotion?
A) Probably what the banner at the end of my tour shows: “Nothing lasts forever.” But also the final lyrics of the album: “It’s gonna take all my life.” I love when things are contradictory – because life is, too. Getting over something doesn’t always mean it’s gone. The things we go through, the phases we live through – even if we wrap them up neatly in the end – they change us. Forever.
And I believe those experiences can make us better, if we allow them to.
Q) Talk about opening for Coldplay and doing the European tour. What did this mean to you as an artist?
A) Opening for Coldplay really changed me as a performer. Playing on such a huge stage for four nights in a row pushed me to grow. Watching videos from night one compared to night four, you can clearly see how my stage presence evolved. It forced me to step out of my comfort zone and made me want to play big stages even more. I’ve lost a lot of fear and gained a strong hunger to write songs that connect with many people. On my European tour, I was able to strengthen this newfound confidence and connect with my fans across Europe — which was the most special thing ever.
Q) Who would you like to collaborate with on a song in the future?
A) He doesn’t know, but I would love to collaborate with Tom Odell in the future. I had the chance to support him on his European tour in 2022 and he’s a really great person. I also admire his music a lot – I actually watched every one of his twenty-two concerts on that tour.
That said, I’m a bit shy about asking for collaborations because I don’t want to come across as opportunistic or like I’m trying to force something.
Another dream collaboration for me would be with Billy Joel.
Q) What would you like to say to the fans and supporters of you and your music?
A) I want to say that I love and appreciate my fans and supporters more than they could ever know. On my European tour, I experienced something new — fans gave me gifts like drawings, bracelets and embroidered bags. I couldn’t believe it. The fact that someone would take time out of their day to make something for me is so special. I use and wear everything all the time and I have every drawing displayed on my bedroom wall. I hope that I bring them as much joy as they bring me.