By: Lisa Steinberg
Photo By Eric Alpert PR
Q) Your music is often described as “folk,” but how would you describe your sound?
A) Well, funnily, my music is never described as “folk” back home. I wish it was! I’d like to think I belong somewhere in that world. I grew up listening to 60s singer-songwriters and a lot of Scottish and Irish folk music. And when I fell head over heels in love with Tracy Chapman in the 80s, I felt like she was a bridge between that folky universe and pop music. I guess that’s somewhere in the realm where I like to think I am.
At the heart of it, they’re songs that can just as well be played with one voice and one guitar. I often put the songs in more punchy or theatrical clothing, out of playfulness or curiosity. But I’m just as happy playing them completely sparse.
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) My dad is a high-fidelity geek, so he played me a lot of different music growing up. The main thing for him was that it was recorded well and sounded good. So, it was a mixed bag. But there was always [Bob] Dylan and Leonard Cohen in our house. And The Beatles from my mum.
Then came Tracy Chapman, who was the biggest one for me in the ’80s. In my teenage years it was grunge, mostly Pearl Jam! Then, Alanis Morissette. And Sting. And then in my twenties, the biggest ones were Joni Mitchell and Radiohead.
Looking at these names now, I guess it’s all strong writing and VERY distinctive voices!
Q) You are a household name in Denmark. What made you want to open yourself up to Canadian audiences?
A) I toured with the British band Zero 7, along with Sia, back in 2004 and we played Toronto and Vancouver. Unusually for touring life, we had a bit of time to look around.
Then, I came back on my own over the next few years and always loved it. In fact, I met my now-husband on a tour in Canada in 2008, so for all these years I’ve felt a special connection to the country.
In recent years I’ve only toured Europe because I don’t tour as much as I used to and there are so many places to play!
But throughout those years, I’ve wanted to come back. I have a wonderful career back home, and I don’t have to win over new markets, but I always thought that if there was one country where I’d like to go and play, kind of just start over, bring a guitar and my songs, it would definitely be Canada.
And now there’s a new album. And I have time. And it feels good.
Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Surfing.”
A) I had written a weird song in Danish about waves. It was in an odd meter, with oddly sung voices flowing in and out of each other. The music sounded like being in water, where every move is dictated by what’s around you.
I guess “Surfing” was the pop song that grew out of that. It came from noticing how everything we do is guided by the waves around us – this ocean of people and energies. We cannot stand still when everything else is in motion. We have to try to ride the waves rather than let ourselves be pulled down.
Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?
A) If fans connect to this song, I would imagine it’s…Well, the hooky little guitar riff, a melody that’s perhaps a bit different from what one normally hears — more jumpy and insistent. The lovely strings. And maybe relating to the image of surfing each other, too. Whether it be two people in a relationship or, on a bigger scale, all of us going through life.
Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?
A) Not at all, to be honest. [laughs] I went to the countryside in Iceland with my phone to make images that would be nice to look at while you’re listening to the song and reading the lyrics. If it hadn’t been a lyric video, I would have done it very differently.
Q) Your album Balancing Small Things On Sharp Edges is out on October 26. What are some themes you’ll be exploring on it?
A) An overall theme, I suppose, is trying to hold on to the important things in a world that feels increasingly overwhelming. And to hold on to the soft, fragile and beautiful things in a world that can feel very brutal and full of sharp edges.
I used to be very restless. This was the fuel for my writing when I was younger: longing, a certain poetic loneliness, searching high and low for something I didn’t even know what was.
Now, I’m not restless anymore. This album was clearly written by someone who has found what they were looking for and is now writing to properly land in it and connect with it. To be present, stay grounded, shut out the noise enough to maintain the softness, the hope, the joy. And to make the most of the time we have.
It’s about relationships, family, getting older, becoming more aware of time and of what actually matters to you.
Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) No, it’s kind of the other way around. I need a lyrical hook, a theme, something that opens the door to the song. When I have a few words, a musical idea might latch itself onto them and then it often comes in layers. More words, then more music, then more words.
I can sit down and work on a song, but often I get stuck that way. And then it’s not until I go about my life that something suddenly pops into my mind that “solves” or finishes the song.
Q) The album is co-produced by you and your husband, Helgi Jonsson. Why was it so important for you both to be so hands on with this new music?
A)We were colleagues for two years before we became a couple. So, music was our entry point to each other. There’s so much understanding and connection there. And magic, to be honest. So, there’s no one I would rather work with than him, even if it also drives me crazy sometimes.
I’m very shy when it comes to sharing new ideas. And I was always hopeless at working intimately with other people. So, it’s been great to have a musical partner I’m not so sensitive about sharing bad ideas with.
But, actually, for this album I also went back to Dennis Ahlgren, who I produced my first six albums with. So, he’s more involved this time, too. He’s more guitar-driven and comes from the world of Tracy Chapman, whereas Helgi is more classical. And I think that’s noticeable on this album.
Q) What are you hoping will linger with audiences that will explore this new album as a whole, either as an emotion or message?
A) My feeling when I first discovered Tracy Chapman or Eddie Vedder, or any of the voices that have really stayed with me in my life, was that I felt “seen.” I felt like Tracy Chapman knew me better than anyone else on this planet. It’s crazy, but it’s true. Music has that power. To make people feel understood and less alone.
I always dreamed that my music could do the same. Because I AM reaching out to connect with people. And, hopefully, they will take that hand and hold it.
But I also hope they’ll just enjoy the music and feel uplifted and hopeful and maybe feel that it stands out from the soup of noise in this world right now.
Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?
A) Some of my favorite places are the ones where I’m most surprised and in awe that I get to play. So, when I go to a beautiful century-old venue in Germany where I never imagined I would find myself, that’s when I pinch my arm. It feels like a fairytale to be in some of these old halls.
But, of course, playing the big shows in Denmark – like filling the Royal Arena with 15,000 people in April – that’s one I will never forget.
But then I’ve always had a career where I could play to 15,000 people and then be playing to one hundred the next night and I LOVE that. And I love that I’m going to play super-intimate solo shows in Canada now. Those types of evenings are so close to my heart. I never really needed all the decoration and hype.
Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?
A) That I hope they will take their time. And dive in – to the new music and the old music. And that I am so endlessly thankful for anyone who wants to connect with it.
I hope to see many of you in real life, out in the venues!