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The Vault

In The Vault, you'll find a collection of old feature pieces from our back issues. Beta started in June 1999, so you'll find a veritable history here.

The singular vision of Frida Hyvönen

Her blog begins artlessly thus: "Frida, the details."

The text that follows is penned without any hint of artifice, and the charmingly odd turns of phrase here and there tell you the writer's first language may not be English. But Frida Hyvönen is possessed of a optimistic streak; she's singularly confident of her vision and art, and she is clearly unafraid to make her way in the big, bad music world.

"I was born in late 1977 in Sweden," she writes, "My last name is Finnish because one of my grandfathers is from Finland. My debut album "Until Death Comes" was originally released in Scandinavia in 2005 by Swedish label Licking Fingers, and will be released in "the rest of the world" in late October 2006, by US label Secretly Canadian."

Coming in the wake of other newly-famous Swedes Jens Lekman and Jose Gonzalez, Hyvönen is a strikingly talented pianist and songwriter whose music reminds you of Laura Nyro in her Tin Pan Alley days. Her strong voice packs a stack of harmonics that allows it to swoop low and fly high. The music she's chosen for accompaniment is raw-boned and filled with open spaces; often all she has behind her is her piano. But the spell she casts is powerful, and for such a young artist, surprisingly deep. She explores sexual transgression, friendship, jealousy with a gravitas that belies her age. She speaks with Beta's Lee Chung Horn about her recent adventures in the US.

Your press kit says you’re beginning to tour outside of Sweden with Jose Gonzalez and the Concretes. Where did you go with them?

Both The Concretes and José invited me to play with them in the UK this spring. We went all over the place.

Didn't you just finish a US tour with Jens Lekman? We did an interview with Jens last year for our magazine! How did the tour go?

I love being in the US, it's very stimulating. I got a high fever on the tour, though. This was maybe not very ideal. A few of the shows I played I barely remembered because the pills I took for the fever made me very dizzy. But I heard it was ok, and almost every night was sold out, I think. I think Jens is a superb entertainer. And I would give my right and my left arms for his band. Well, I guess if I lost my arms I would need a band.

Apart from playing what did you enjoy doing in the US?

After the tour we hung out in Brooklyn for a couple of weeks. It seems like I enjoy doing the same things no matter where I am. That means walking, following traces, making conversations, and feeling the atmosphere. Preferably with a glass of sparkling wine in my right hand, and a camera or pen in my left.

What inspires you to write?

I think partly it's the hope of making a bridge to beauty, arranging the world to become more particular and interesting.

How do you approach your craft so that art and poetry is put into your work?

I don't separate them.

Why did you decide to title your debut album “Until Death Comes”? When were the songs written?

The title "until death comes" come from a line in the song "Djuna". It's a song about love and the transient aspects of life. Maybe. Plus it is a perfect slogan--just think "Frida Hyvönen Until Death Comes". It's like it'll last you a lifetime! Me and my friend Lisa thought it sounded good.

I suspect many people who hear your music would think of Laura Nyro. I do hear Nyro in your vocal on “You Never Got Me Right”. Nyro’s voice is higher than yours, but when you sing out loud and strong, and speed up in the second half of the song, the similarities are uncanny. And of course, like Nyro, the piano is your main instrument. Are you a fan of Laura Nyro’s?

Not really. But after hearing my music, many people started giving me Nyro's records. What I heard was fine, but I didn't exactly fall in love. And when it comes to the comparison, I can understand it, but I think her songs speak a wholly different language than mine.

“Once I Was a Serene Teenaged Child” contains some very sexual, very provocative lines. Is this song about a real event? Your website gives it a headline: “Poets, Sex and Adolescence”.

This song is probably the one that I've gotten most feedback on, from people who recognize themselves in the song. In that way it seems like it's, to a very high degree about a real event. Hundreds of them!

“N.Y.” is a song about New York City. What does the city mean to you? Did you go to see Ground Zero?

I've seen Ground Zero. I wrote that song before 9/11, though; after coming back from a trip to NYC in 2000. I was actually at a party up in the World Trade Center then, on the 110th floor or something.

On the album, “Come Another Night” features a full band arrangement Unlike the other tracks, it has a breezy pop feel. Do you like pop music?

What I like or don't like in music changes. But pop music needs huge definitions. The way I see it, the function of "Come Another Night", on my record, is the same as a ballad on an uptempo record. It's a dream, an excursion, a fantasy of something that one could be. I wanted it to be a 60's love song, or a post card, a wish of love being simple, and young.

Your album was first released in Sweden last year. How did you get signed to Secretly Canadian this year?

They fell in love with the album and wanted to release it. We came to an agreement.

What’s playing on your stereo right now?

Markus Krunegård's solo project. It's not yet released.

Who's Markus Krunegard?

He's a friend of mine. He also plays in a band called Laakso. Go to his page--he's at http://www.myspace.com/laaksolaakso .

What was the first record you bought?

My first cassette was Madonna's "Like A Virgin". My first LP was Neneh Cherry's "Raw Like Sushi". I still love both records.

Yeah, first buys---they always mean so much to us. I never, personally, bought any of Madonna's early records until "Papa Don't Preach". Without going all analytical about the cultural significance of Madonna's work and career, I think her newer albums--the dance ones--are really quite good. I loved "Confessions on the Dance Floor", for instance. Do you still listen to Madonna? Is she on Swedish radio much?

She is probably on the radio. I might do the occasional Madonna listening. I typically get excited if one of her songs comes on on the dancefloor. Soon as I hear any song from "Like A Virgin", I automatically start feeling the smell of "My little pony"-plastic. You know, those little toy horses? Madonna and "My little pony" invaded my life at the same time. I needed little else.

I was in Brooklyn myself this June. I saw David Bazan play. I went to Coney Island and rode the Cyclone rollercoaster.

Oh, that's great. I hear Coney Island is pretty. OK, I'll tell you some more. I went to the DADA exhibition at MoMa. And I saw Sonic Youth and Yeah Yeah Yeahs at this old emptied pool in Williamsburg. And I hung out at the Hampus Pettersson exhibition (http://www.hampuspettersson.com/) in the same area. I was at a house-warming party and was drooled on by a drooling dog. Then I watched the full moon on a private pier on the East River.

What plans for the future?

Today, I'll go out hunting for mushrooms with my kid brother, and this week I am moving a piano into my friend's house as a move-in-present. Later in the fall I'll be playing some shows here and there in the world. And I am working on the recordings of some songs I wrote for a dance performance last year. We will also be touring with that performance. I'll be on stage, playing, and there are even dogs in the performance. Poodles. Magnificent.

Where in Sweden do you live?

I don't have a home. I'm traveling all the time. Right now I am visiting family and friends up north in Sweden. Have a good day! Today is the Swedish elections.