Interview by Miriam Cadoni
The Swedish priestess of the “Death Gospel” is back with the brand new EP “Devil” which will be released on 29th May 2020 via Icons Creating Evil Art. This upcoming release offered to the artist a new musical challenge: devoid of the super-layered production of the previous release “A Broken Heart Is An Open Heart”, the artist and her band chose a straightforward approach that completely provide her with a different prospective. Keep your ears open and let be spellbound her magical powers.
Hi Louise, welcome back to Femme Metal Webzine, how are you and how life is treating you in these precarious times?
Hi, thank you so much. Well, it’s a very special time for all of us and of course, many things have changed especially for me because I’m not being able to go on tour. However, I’m trying to use this time for writing music and keep myself busy in creative ways.
On May 29th, it will release your upcoming EP “Devil” which follows your acclaimed second full-length “A Broken Heart Is An Open Heart”. What would you like to share about this production?
Well, this EP was recorded in the complete opposite way than my last record. The previous one was recorded in a huge studio with a super-production. For this EP, I really wanted to find that gritness of myself playing live, so it was recorded in our rehearsal space. Additionally, it was recorded and mixed by my keyboardist and long-time collaborator Anders Ludwigsson and me. The last record was a bigger production and it was more focused on me and the band. I just tried to put in words all this in some ways. I tried to put all these elements in the right collocation. It was fun to just be the one in charge and take some of the decisions.
In the single “Devil” which it has the same name of the EP, you sing “When I needed him/when I’m bleeding for him/He didn’t walk out on me/Oh, he just left me”. Since I was curious and I really like the song, to whom or what, do you refer in particular to this song?
Thank you. Actually, I was referring to the relationship I was in at the time and the peculiar thing is that I wrote that song and I already did called “Devil” when I was still involved in it. Personally, in the song I was looking for the devil within me when all along other people were the devil. However, I realized this while working on the song but not before in my personal life. It’s kind of a reality check for me.
In the press release, you mentioned a detail about the production: “I wanted to capture the live sound and I wanted to record it straight as it sounds”. How much has your approach changed since your previous album and how this helped you to improve as an artist?
I mean, I always try to have a new approach for whatever I do. For example, right now I’m writing my next track and I’m trying to find out what this record will be, what it will stand out on this one and I think, it’s quite a natural process. As previously mentioned, “A Broken Heart Is An Open Heart”‘s entire record process was one of the best experiences of my life. Yet, as an artist you have to do new things and explore them. I have just this need and urge to always improve my sound, just find that raw sound and keep on producing and work myself together with my musicians.
You expressed a lot of satisfaction towards the final outcome of “Devil” but at the end, which is the main goal that you have achieved with this EP?
I’m very happy that we were able to do it in this way because I feel like I’ve captured a lot of the live elements. Take for example the piano and the guitar parts, they have a dream-like sound. What also I’m satisfied with is the fact that we kept it in a small scale situation like in a family. Then together with Anders Ludwigsson, we managed to get a raw and finished production. It definitely was a whole different kind of process than “A Broken Heart Is An Open Heart”. For me, it was a dream coming true.
I can feel also that throughout the entire EP you completely exposed yourself in the deepest way ever, was it difficult to approach yourself so openly?
No, I think this is like the path I’ve chosen. I just have the feeling that I get stronger and stronger. Actually, my attempt is to peel off all the layers to try to find my inner core because that’s when it gets interesting for me and for the other people to listen to it. Musically speaking, it gets interesting for me when I feel it all that, it’s honest and real. Out of everything, I get stronger while I write about it because I own my experiences, I conceive records out of them, I create something beautiful, I create something that’s mine out of a situation where I wasn’t in charge of something that was sad too.
I also can sense that there’s a feeling of closure in some of the lyrics and that put yourself in discussion from past events. So, how hard was it to close once and for all something that has provoked you pain?
Well, it’s one of the best of the feelings when you do that. Sometimes with a song or an album you do it or sometimes you don’t, even though you try to. This record has ups and downs. For example, “Bathe in Gold” is a love song and it’s my first and only love song I’ve ever written. However, I’m not so sure if I’m closing a chapter or something like that. On the other end, making a song and feel like I capture the moment is a relief because I can write when I’m exactly in the moment and this rarely happens. Its final outcome makes me understand that I have a different perspective and I’m not completely drenched by it. This is a really good feeling.
At the beginning of this strange year, you succeeded in concluding your first tour in Spain that included some TV appearances and radio shows in both Barcelona and Madrid. Overall, which are the memories that you cherish the most from these experiences?
For me, it was special to play there because I lived for a long time in Spain and also because I had my band with me. It was really nice to play for both the TV and the radio. I have been before in Madrid because I have played during a festival there and it was a lovely experience.
Due to the situation, I feel a bit awkward to ask it but yeah, which are your next plans for the future? And for right now, how are you dealing with this crisis? In general, how did it impact you as an artist?
Of course, it has impacted me a lot since I can’t go on tour. Since it’s an introspective time for all, I’m just trying to take time to write and trying to get in that way. I just hope to come back on the road as soon as possible.
So, Louise, this was my last question. We’re almost at the end and with this please be free to say hi to your fans and our readers. I really thank you so much for your time.
No worries. Thank you for your nice questions and I hope to see you in Utrecht.
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