Besides working with music Knut Svanholm works as a mate on a sailing ship, and that’s also where many of his songs are created; somewhere out on the Mediterranean, on the Atlantic ocean or in the Caribbean sea. Last year he released the solo album “Ergasiophobia” and also the record “The Angry Kid” with his band LOBST, which I wrote about here on the blog. Fleet of Clay is another of his projects which I have also written about as I paid some attention to the excellent album “The Essential Fleet of Clay”.

This year he’s released the solo collection “Acoustrophé”, which is something like his own version of “Rare Tracks”: songs that didn’t fit into the earlier works and that he decided to record now, live tracks and other odd songs, where you’ll find for example a translation to English of  “Vargasången” from Ronia the Robber’s Daughter and an attempt to make a Bond theme song. I like the new recordings the best, the first four tracks, where he’s alone with his guitar (except on one song), it’s personal, naked and inspired by his travelling life. The whole album feels a little like getting to know Knut a little better, and it’s clearly a pleasant acqaintance.

Knut Svanholm on Facebook – on Spotify

Stray Dog
Feels Like Loneliness

I wrote about Knut Svanholm and his brother’s trio Fleet of Clay a couple of weeks ago. His main project, though, is the rock band LOBST where he sings, plays the guitar and writes songs. In the beginning of the Autumn they released their new album “The Angry Kid”, the second one since the start in 2009.

On the album they create their own rock hybrid where I hear British hard rock from  Mötorhead to Saxon as well as grunge and post grunge from the nineties. It’s a dense, guitar riff loaded and raw sound which goes hand in hand with Knut’s almost punky vocals. An album full of adrenaline and guitar candy which grows with each time I listen. Listen for yourself in a couple of tracks here below.

LOBST on Facebook – on Spotify

Downward Slope
The Watcher