It would have been easy for me to compare Mårten Lärka to a swedish Bob Dylan. Not so much because of the music but more for the lyrics, where the story of modern society is described with both humour and a sharp edge.

And musically the comparison is not just about the image of a man alone with his guitar, but also about songs like “Hemgång utgång” where Mårten feels like a bluesy Dylan from the seventies. Well, in the end it’s not that simple.

Mårten shows more variation than that, from a troubadour-feeling to something that can be described as Swedish ballad pop for example in the song “Livstidsvicket” to some kind of eighties-Kent in “Fri Luft” (listen to this great track on his Myspace page), to blues and to other styles.

And I feel rather comfortable not to classify an artist like this, but yet sense a whole in Mårten’s vocals and his concern that he has something to tell us.

Video for “Innan natten har gjort kväll” (2005)

The 14th of October Mårten Lärka will release a new album. Listen to two tracks from the new album:

Livstidsvicket
Ettor och Nollor

Visit Mårten Lärka on Myspace