“Heaven Sent”, the new album from Victoria Lagerström, is fascinatingly beautiful and filled with different emotions. It strikes me how big the sound is, even though the arrangements are basic.

It also strikes me how carefully each song has been produced, where each track has it’s own characteristics and feeling. The arrangement is created after the principle “less is more” and guided by what the song has to offer, and not according to a common band setup.
And on top of this, Victoria’s soft soul-jazz voice, like a young to midaged Joni Mitchell.

I’m sure you’ll understand what I mean when you listen to the songs below. “Heaven Sent”, the title track, has a latino feeling, a soft jazzy cornet, a kind of desert ambience which leads into a jazz-pop chorus, like a reply to a later Mecano.

And then there is the wonderful “If I Say Yes” where the jazz influence feels stronger and the relationship with Joni Mitchell shines through even brighter. A soft beautiful saxophone guides the listener from the first chorus to the end.

Listen and enjoy:

Heaven Sent
If I Say Yes

Visit Victoria:

Victoria Lagerström’s home page

Victoria on Myspace

The band Skuggan is a new pleasant musical acquaintance. This is a band that has started over afresh, they made a control-alt-delete, as they themselves describe it, from the roots in the previous band Shade Tree. Below, you can listen to “Rör vid mig i igen” (“Touch Me Again”), a melancholic, beautiful, atmospheric, pensive song – expressed by Carl Jönssons light and soft voice.

At their current restart they have been mentioned on several other good music blogs, such as jacksoncage (in swedish) and skivgrisen (in swedish). Check them out.

What is perhaps equally interesting about Skuggan is how one can follow them on their journey on their web site, which is in blog format. They purvey a feeling of movement, a sense of who they are through what they write about. One can follow the development of the songs from early scetch, to rehearsal demo to the version you can listen to here. One can read about the band, personal thoughts and what they see and feel. Compared to traditional band sites where there are long bios and a separate news section, one can create one’s own image of who they really are and where they are going. And they are there with you, as they are only a comment away. I hope that more artists realize the strength of this concept and follow their example. (note: Their blog is in swedish)

Other songs you can listen to at the site, in different versions, are “Västergatan” and “Buena Vista” – the latter with pleasant Joni Mitchell vibes in my ears. And it is most likely that, by the time this piece is written and published, you will find new tracks to listen to, new stories to read and new reflections to take part of.

Visit Skuggan on their homepage

Rör vid mig igen

(translated by Clint Hell)