Sofia Talvik – Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots
Unmistakably Nordic in flavor, Sofia Talvik somehow still conforms to American interpretations of her own original music, a North Sea siren blending sparkle and melancholy, creating a special niche of folk music.
I’ve never been much of a cover singer, but if you followed me for a while you know I sometimes try. So now that it’s coming on Christmas so to say đ I thought I’d post this live recording of me singing Joni Mitchell’s song “River”. Next year I will release a live album, so this is like a little taste of what’s to come. Enjoy!
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, Swedenâs Sofia Talvik put out an impressive album â Jonestown â which wowed me with its lush
orchestrations and catchy, melancholic 60âs-pop songs, tunes that wouldnât have been out of place on any of Goldfrappâs 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 yearâs full length, The Owls Are Not What They Seem. The new record is a departure for sure â still catchy in its way, though the earworms have more room to sprawlâ still lush, though the flute and string accompaniments are more restrained and the tremolo guitars serve only as punctuation. Whatâs 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. Talvikâs voice can be both rich and whispery, and each breath seems to bend toward some hidden sadness, as if tugged by an undercurrent we canât quite see; but we feel its force as the music unfolds, swirls, and closes around us.[/quote]
Chris R. CDbaby
Check it out here!
Per Henriksson har tagit sig tid att skriva ett litet tips on min nya platta Florida, det tackar jag för:
Skivtips: Sofia Talvik “Florida”
Sofia Talvik har lĂ€nge varit en av Sveriges mest begĂ„vade artister. Men hon har kommit en lĂ„ng vĂ€g sen debuten. DĂ€r hon tidigare var lovande och charmig Ă€r nya skivan “Florida” fullgĂ„ngen och i internationell klass (jĂ€mför gĂ€rna med Christina Courtin) .
En del recensenter har jĂ€mfört Talvik med Frida Hyvönen och Anna Ternheim. Det Ă€r smickrande i den mening att de Ă€r artister som Ă€r genuint begĂ„vade och gör nĂ„got eget precis som Sofia Talvik. Jag skulle dock vilja hĂ€vda att Talvik har större internationell potential. Inte för att hon Ă€r mer kommersiell – snarare tvĂ€rtom. Men hennes referenser finns snarare i amerikansk country och alt rock Ă€n i svensk pop.
Att skivan heter Florida Àr ingen slump. Det Àr amerikansk country influerad rock som den var innan The Eagles sönderdominerade scenen. Det Àr mer Clouds och Ladies of the Canyon med Joni Mitchell Àn nÄgon svensk artist som Àr rimliga referenser.
I’m happy to announce the guest artists that will be performing with me on my Christmas shows in December. Make sure you book your tickets before they’re all sold out. Cornelisrummet at Mosebacke only takes 50 people per concert and the tickets are already available for purchase here. Sofia Talvik’s Julmys is a Christmas show where I will play my original Christmas songs alongside my favourite wintery songs by other artists like Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. I’m also very happy to announce that 3 very talanted stars from Sweden will join me for a show each.
December 5th: Meja
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Almost 15 years have passed since the birth of her solo carrier, and yet Mejaâs history is not about what happened â thenâ. It will always be about what Is happeningâ nowâ. The Mega hits are still spinning around in our minds, our lips are still humming âItÂŽs all about the Dum-dum-du-du-du-dumâ and the stories of the Japanese mass euphoria are regarded as literacy. Itâs nice with fixed stars, the artists we feel are âoursâ whom we can feel proud of. But to rely on old ways would be unfair, not only to Mejaâs variety and creativity, and if we donât look ahead we will miss out on a multifaceted artist with the fingers in more cookie jars than most.
December 6th: Christian Kjellvander
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Known for both his career in the band Loosegoats as well as his many praised solo albums, Christian Kjellvander is probably the most American country-esque singer/songwriter in the whole of Scandinavia. Or as “The Sun” describes his music; “Youâd bet your bottom dollat that the man behind it lived in a small American town.”
December 12th: Pernilla Andersson
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Pernilla Andersson is in her spare-time a passionate fisherman. She also runs her own label Sheriff, has produced several albums and released no less than 6 solo albums in both English and Swedish. This Swedish bombshell has several talents and and a heart of gold. She’s involved in the project “Don’t mess with out water” and some of the profits from her latest album goes to the cause of saving the sea environment in the Baltic sea.
Salvo Magazine appoints December their mp3 of the month in their upcoming issue. Read it first here!
MP3 of the Month
Sofia Talvik – DecemberIt’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