December – mp3 of the month

Salvo Magazine appoints December their mp3 of the month in their upcoming issue. Read it first here!

MP3 of the Month
Sofia Talvik – December

It’s not very often I come across Folk music that’s to my taste. Maybe it’s just a genre that doesn’t really do that much for me, I don’t know. Now, before all Folk artists out there get all defensive and start writing in complaining that I’m dissing them as a collective, please, save your venting, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

You see, although I’m not the biggest lover of Folk music in general, when it’s done properly, like pretty much any genre (especially Classical but that’s a totally different story), it can be stunning.

Look at artists like Gemma Hayes, Kathryn Williams, Nick Drake, Tom McRae or Cara Dillon, with the latter especially being truly sublime. Folk absolutely is a genre that’s both under appreciated whilst also being a backbone to music as a whole and one we must all embrace ‘for the greater good’.

That’s what leads me onto Sofia. We decided to choose December as our MP3 of the month above all other tracks off her most recent long playing effort Street of Dreams as it would be too easy to choose the single It’s Just Love based on the facts that 1 – it’s a single already and 2 – it’s a duet with one of my personal heroes, Bernard Butler, now, that would bias the vote ten fold.
No, what sets December apart from the bunch is that it’s just so much more delicate than the others.

With a vocal range tinged by echoes of Dolores Mary O'Riordan Burton from the Cranberries blended with a light heartedness that in some ways isn’t too distant from Joni Mitchell in her heyday all those years ago, December has managed to remain on constant replay for a good while now and will continue to do so until another track off the album takes our fancy.
Featuring an accent that does at times sound Irish it’s almost unnoticeable that she is in fact from Sweden. Don’t worry. We’ll keep the Abba references to a minimum.

Sofia has obviously been working as a solo artist for long enough now to realise where she wants to get, it’s abundantly clear that she’s working with people who are on her wavelength and are helping her do that

If there was ever a time for artists like Sofia to be in the forefront it’s got to be now, we’ve got others Acoustic Soloists like James Morrison and Blunt pushing acoustic based song writing into the mainstream and whilst we really shouldn’t pin all of our hopes on artists like these, god help us if we did, it is great to see that every now and then artists like Sofia do get the spotlight shone in their direction. 2007 should be the year that spotlight gets turned to face her and we wish her all the best when it does.

I am also green with envy that she’s worked with a hero, but I’ll get over that so don’t worry too much..

www.myspace.com/sofiatalvik

Duncan Buchanan

Yet more reviews..

Swedish journalist Jan Gradvall reviews "Street of Dreams" in the newspaper DI and Gradvall.se

Sofia Talvik
Titel: Street of Dreams
(Makaki Music/Border)
Betyg: 3

Ung svensk singer-songwriter som även hon har potential att nå Norah Jones-publiken. Med gitarren i famnen skriver Sofia Talvik precisa små ballader, elegant arrangerade, som hamnar någonstans mitt emellan pop, country och folkmusik. Hennes debutsingel ”Ghosts” från 2005 blev en stor framgång i P3. På andra albumet sjunger Sofia duett med Bernard Butler från Suede och radar upp ännu starkare melodier.

Jan Gradvall

 

Musiklandet.se reviews "Street of Dreams"

Bättre än prisade konkurrenter
Skivan inleds med Its silly now to say, ett brev, eller en hälsning till en gammal kärlek. Ett effektivt sätt att locka in lyssnaren in i ett lågmält, men ändå väldigt omskakande album.

Street of dreams är Sofia Talviks andra skiva. Den första, Blue moon, hyllades unisont av en enig kritikerkår. Nu visar det sig att den lyckade debuten inte var en tillfällighet. Den svåra "andraplattan" är precis lika bra, kanske till och med bättre. Förklaringen ligger i rösten och i modet.

Den spröda rösten är hennes främsta vapen. En sylvass, men ändå spröd Joni Mitchellstämma som bär fram berättelserna på ett naturligt sätt. De modiga texterna består av knivskarpa iakttagelser Här finns en eftertänksamhet, ett sorgligt vemod över dagar som gått. Talvik har modet att inte hålla tillbaka, skivans största stunder är också de mest nakna och självutlämnande.

Det hörs att Sofia Talvik kan sin Joni Mitchell. Soundet ligger nära Mitchells milstolpe Blue. Undantaget från den formeln är Its just love, förstasingel och en duett med idolen Bernard Butler. Its just love är ett avbräck, ett tyngre, lite rockigare spår än resten av skivan. Ett perfekt singelval, men knappast en låt som ger insikt i hur resten av Street of dreams låter.

Invändningen ligger i skivans längd. 13 låtar fördelade över 44 minuter är i längsta laget. Det ställer stora krav på lyssnaren att hålla koncentrationen. Tre fyra låtar kortare hade denna skiva varit ett ännu tyngre slag i magen.

Anna Ternheim, Frida Hyvönen, och Sofie Zelmani räknas som drottningar på den svenska kvinnliga singer-songwriterscenen. Det är smått obegripligt och orättvist att Sofia Talvik ännu inte nämns i samma andetag som dem. Street of dreams borde bli hennes stora genombrott.
 
Jörgen Boman 2007-02-14

Indie Chic Magazine goes nuts…

…about the new album. Indie Chic Magazine reviews "Street of Dreams"

Sofia Talvik – Street of Dreams

Word on the music street is that soultress Sofia Talvik's new cd "Street Of Dreams" is a remarkable hit,
Indie Chic went out to prove such a thing.
With amazing vocals and beautiful melodies, this cd is "To Die For" in music lovers eyes!  A struggling female artist on the verge of stardom? Indie chic thinks so, the music hit our ears and we had to write a review on such a tasteful sounds and wonderful lyrics. "Its Just Love" is an astonishing song flows with melody and great vocals.
This wonderful swedish artists is amazing, if you like The Sounds or if you like Lauren Hoffman, Sofia Talvik is definently one to remember and check out.
More songs on the record that was remarkable in our eyes… "December" and "Street Of Dreams", both songs can be heard on her MySpace –  www.myspace.com/sofiatalvik

The album was released January 30th. Street of Dreams is her second album, her debut "Blue Moon" is available on iTunes Music store and was released last year with raving reviews from the media.

Pre-order available now!

Time is flying by and soon the new album will hit the stores with a BANG! If you want to be the first to get a copy, not have to stand in line and camp outside the record store to get it, 😉 you can order one here and it will arrive in your mailbox the day of the release. Bengans records ships (nearly) worldwide and the price is far cheaper than you will find anywhere else so if you didn’t get a pop-up when you cruised in here, just click the right upper corner on this page to order.