Hear me live on Ladies Night

On May 20th at 7pm I’ll visit the online radio station 40FootHoleStudio’s show Ladies Night to play a couple of songs and talk about my tour. It’s a show about female artists and their music (men are also welcome to listen though). The show is aired every Sunday at 7pm EST. / 12am UK time and can be heard in 30 countries.

“Founder Dave McMahon, whose musical devotion lies somewhere between fan and fanatic, explained how he first started as an internet DJ. ‘I love music,” he said “but I hate radio.’”

Which explains why the station is focused on indie music and not top 40 and have no commercial ads in between the songs.

You can check out 40FootHoleStudio’s Facebook site to see their latest updates and if you want to listen live, just click here.

 

Radio in MS

Sofia playing on the air on Southern Miss Today
Sofia playing on the air on Southern Miss Today
Sofia playing on the air on Southern Miss Today

I just did a couple of radio shows in the heart of sunny Mississippi. College station Souther Miss Today invited me to play a few songs and tell their listeners about the tour and Jackson station WLEZ fm had me play a song in the studio too. Here’s some pics and a little video from my performances there. Unfortunately there’s no online archive to listen to, but tune in to the stations anyway to enjoy good music and more.

Sofia live on WLEZ fm
Sofia live on WLEZ fm
Sofia in the WLEZ studio
Sofia in the WLEZ studio

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.

Infoffical tour start

Me and Roxanne at WPRK 91.5

Today I started my Drivin’ & Dreaming tour in an unofficial manner by visiting Rollin’s College’s campus radio station WPRK 91.5. I hung out with Roxanne and played some tunes in the studio. Here’s a pic from my little morning sneak tour start.

Me and Roxanne at WPRK 91.5
Me and Roxanne at WPRK 91.5

E – Part Four of H.A.T.E

E - Part Four of H.A.T.E by Akribi
E - Part Four of H.A.T.E by Akribi
E - Part Four of H.A.T.E by Akribi

So you thought the year was over? That there would be no more Sofia-songs to enjoy? Well you thought wrong. As a special treat we still have “E – Part Four of H.A.TE” coming up December 1st like an early Christmas gift.

I’m so happy to tell you that the last EP of the H.A.T.E saga is being recorded by Swedish band Akribi, who is the first band in the project to have a female singer (and she’s pretty damn hot too!).

In a sea of generic female-fronted metal bands, Akribi blatantly defies the worn-out gothic/operatic formula, staying uncompromisingly true to its progressive- and melodic metal roots. Based in the Swedish metal capital of Gothenburg, Akribi delivers its own brand of metal influenced by genre-defining acts such as Dream Theater, Symphony X and Marillion, but also by bands far outside the progressive genre.

Their debut album “Black Morning Sun” has recently been released to great acclaim, with reviewers calling it: “a jewel of an album, and a must have for fans of new progressive metal” and “premier league prog metal immaculately recorded with impeccable sound“, with the band being called: “one of the best female fronted progressive metal bands I’ve ever heard“.

So my hopes for Akribi’s addition to H.A.T.E is sky high!

Akribi has actually already sent me a teaser by a few pics from the studio. Let the count down begin!

Andreas by the piano
Andreas by the piano
Alexander in the studio
Alexander in the studio
David playing some licks
David playing some licks!
Jessica recording some magic!
Jessica recording some magic!