5 star review for TOANWTS

5 stars from CDbaby
5 stars from CDbaby
5 stars from CDbaby

Indie distributer CDbaby just recently chose my new album The Owls Are Not What They Seem as their editor’s pick, gave it 5 stars and wrote this lovely review!

[quote] In 2008, Sweden’s Sofia Talvik put out an impressive album — Jonestown — which wowed me with its lush
orchestrations and catchy, melancholic 60’s-pop songs, tunes that wouldn’t have been out of place on any of Goldfrapp’s NON-disco albums. The following year, Talvik released an equally ambitious, subtly-searing album called Florida that was haunted by the ghosts of Dustbowl folk and countrified Southern Gothic. In 2011, the prolific indie-songstress put out 4 EPs that previewed remixed versions of songs that would end up on this year’s full length, The Owls Are Not What They Seem. The new record is a departure for sure — still catchy in its way, though the earworms have more room to sprawl— still lush, though the flute and string accompaniments are more restrained and the tremolo guitars serve only as punctuation. What’s different this time around? Mood: Owls is a slow-burning folk pop gem that wanders and searches as if dreaming itself into being. Think Nick Drake, Kings of Convenience, and Blue-era Joni Mitchell. Talvik’s voice can be both rich and whispery, and each breath seems to bend toward some hidden sadness, as if tugged by an undercurrent we can’t quite see; but we feel its force as the music unfolds, swirls, and closes around us.[/quote]

Chris R. CDbaby

 

Check it out here!

In love with Alabama

Sofia Talvik live at The Bama Theatre
Sofia Talvik live at The Bama Theatre
Sofia Talvik live at The Bama Theatre

At first it seemed like a real challenge to book gigs in Alabama and Mississippi, and some people actually told us we would probably be better off skipping them altogether. Well, let me tell you I’m pretty happy we ignored that advice. If I haven’t played the best venues there is in Alabama, I think my head is going to explode because the places I’ve played here have been some of the best gigs on my tour so far. In beautiful Birmingham I was invited to play Moonlight on the Mountain and got to discover a great singer/songwriter called Nathan Reich who also happens to play guitar in the new hip band Flights. In Auburn I played the low key intimate The Gnu’s Room and in Tuscaloosa I played at The Bama Theatre with local Sparrow and the Ghost and also did a show at the Alabama Art Kitchen. In Cullman I had standing ovations at the 60’s style coffee house Berkely Bob’s Coffee House. Alabama has been so great, it’s actually the only state where I’ve had ONLY good shows.

So here’s a few pics and videos. See you in Arkansas and Texas!

Performing Delusional at Bama Theatre

Sofia Talvik live at Moonlight on the mountain
Sofia Talvik live at Moonlight on the mountain
Keith, Sofia and Nathan at Moonlight on the mountain
Keith, Sofia and Nathan at Moonlight on the mountain
Sofia Talvik live at Berkely Bob's Coffee House
Sofia Talvik live at Berkely Bob's Coffee House

New album pre-order!

The Owls Are Not What They Seem
The Owls Are Not What They Seem
The Owls Are Not What They Seem

“…Not dread but a connection with our past is what we feel, a thread running back to the artless creatures we once were when we first heard the oboe-like notes from the Great Horned Owl. In Paleolithic times, we suspected omens in its voice, heard in it questions we were unable to articulate, but which have stayed within us, incomplete and taunting. We are certain that ancient, taloned bird sees what we do not, knows what we never will. And some night, silent as a gliding feather, its immensity will engulf us at fireside to tell us things we want to know as well as those we don’t. In the shadowed forest we’re pulled by that lurking and alluring ghost and we are enthralled.” Welcome to Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town

2011 was a busy year for me. I worked hard to get an artist visa to the US, preparing for a tour that might go on for as long as two years. At the same time I wrote and recorded a new album. Now that I’ve landed in my tour in the US it’s also time for my new album to land. “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” is a collection of 12 new songs. My musical journey started out in 2004 when I recorded Blue Moon and me and my musicians all gathered in a basement studio in Stockholm recording acoustically and almost all the instruments at the same time. After that I tried a more common way of recording in layers, adding instruments upon instruments. For my third album I hired a producer, Tobias Fröberg and for my fourth album Florida i experimented with a bigger soundscape with more drums than I had ever used before.

For “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” I went back to basics. After having done an acoustic solo tour for my album Florida Acoustic in 2010 I felt I was in my best element when I was playing and singing at the same time without the restrains of headphones and click-tracks. So I decided to make an ablum that was the essence of that me. Just something I could record in my bedroom without the pressure of a big production, time and opinions from others. All the songs on “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” are recorded that way. Me – playing and singing at the same time, then sparsely adding other instruments to enhance and highlight where I thought it was needed.  My goal was to keep it down and make an acoustic album with a live, organic feel to it. I had no interest in changing the world or inventing something new. I just wanted to make a beautiful acoustic album. And here it is: “The Owls Are Not What They Seem

You can now pre-order the album here. You’ll get a free track straight away. Physical signed albums will only be available through my website until the release. I also have two special guests on the album; Martin Hederos is playing the piano on “Nothing quite so gentle” and Pontus Borg has lent his voice to “7 miles wide”. Please hit the share button to tell all your friends.

Kulturnattsspelning i Uppsala!

Kulturnatten i Uppsala
Kulturnatten i Uppsala
Sofia Talvik spelar pĂĄ Kulturnatten i Uppsala

På lördag spelar jag på Kulturnatten i Uppsala. Egentligen spelar jag inte alls på natten eftersom jag spelar redan kl 15 på eftermiddagen för den som vill starta dagen tidigt på Katalin.

För 10 ĂĄr sen bodde jag i Uppsala. Jag flyttade dit eftersom jag tröttnade pĂĄ att bo i andrahand i Stockholm och hade en kompis som köpt lägenhet i Uppsala och talade sig varm om det. I Uppsala kom jag pĂĄ riktigt igĂĄng med musiken. FrĂĄn att bara ha suttit hemma pĂĄ kammaren och spelat för mig själv eller möjligtvis nĂĄgon väl utvald kompis träffade jag helt plötsligt pĂĄ folk som hade inspelningsmöjligheter. SĂĄ jag spelade in min första demo och skickade den till radioprogrammet p3 demo. Jag trodde aldrig att de skulle ta upp den, men min lĂĄt Ghosts, som även finns med pĂĄ min debutplatta Blue Moon, hamnade pĂĄ deras topplista i flera mĂĄnader. Plötsligt rasade det in mail frĂĄn folk som lyssnat och jag fattade att det kanske faktiskt fanns nĂĄgra därute som ville höra mer. Jag blev kallad “Uppsalatjejen Sofia Talvik” i Sonic och helt plötsligt hade jag bytt sida pĂĄ landet frĂĄn att vara Göteborgstjej till Uppsalatjej.

Det blev inte direkt en massa spelningar i Uppsala då, men nu kommer jag alltså tillbaka på lördag och spelar lite låtar för alla kulturnissar och studenter i Uppis. Vi ses på Katalin kl 15!

New review from SmĂĄlandsposten!

Sofia Talvik är helt underbar
Sofia Talvik är för underskattad för sitt eget bästa.
Sofia Talvik – Jonestown
Betyg:
4

För några år sedan fanns det kvinnliga singer/songwriters i varje buske. En av dem var Sofia Talvik som debuterade för tre år sedan. Hon fick en dunderhit med den sorgliga saken Ghosts.
Sedan dess har hon släppt platta nummer två, samarbetat med Bernard Butler och spelat på Lollapalooza-festivalen. Trots det är hon lite i skymundan i Sverige. Vilket är tråkigt. För Sofia Talvik är en egen artist. Hon har ett eget uttryck, en fantastisk röst och låtar som är små berättelser, nästan som medeltida ballader. Jonestown är en något mer lågmäld platta, de riktiga hittarna uteblir. Men det är egentligen bara skönt.

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