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Bon Iver, Sean Rowe
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Folky post-rock Americana
" A melancholic singer/songwriter with a folky post-rock sound. "
Another melancholic Swedish singer-songwriter, can that really be true? Yes, it can, and don’t forget that it’s very dark up north for almost six months a year – you’ve all seen Scandinavian noir on TV. It’s in this setting that Albert af Ekenstam lives, breathes and creates.
With his very fine solo debut Ashes, he’ll get further out in the world, just like Swedish crime fiction – that’s how well-crafted its 10 atmospheric songs about missing someone and mortality are. Drawing on personal experience – his mother died when he was 12 – he sings about dealing with life’s losses. It’s traditional song writing with personal narration, carefully arranged by Anna von Hausswolff’s producer Filip Leyman into an album that, despite its dark expression, provides a ray of hope and light. By the way, af Ekenstam and Leyman used to be in instrumental post-rock band Tempel together.
When Albert left his hometown Gothenburg for Stockholm, he had no other musical projects, so there was plenty of time for him to finish his own songs and personal story. The Kning Disk label, which also worked with Tempel, released his solo debut in October 2016. It’s heart-breaking and spellbinding, it’s music that needs to be released, and we’re happy that Albert Af Ekenstam shares and takes it on tour – because it deserves a large audience.