aaamusic | On 21, Oct 2012

‘Ah!’ is the spellbinding debut album from Swedish cellist Linnea Olsson, released October 29^th through Götterfunk Productions. Having previously worked with fellow Scandinavian artists Ane Brun, Nina Kinert and Frida Hyvonen, Linnea is more than ready to strike out on her own with this lush cello pop collection.

 

The low, mournful notes that open ‘Ah!’ may predict an album which sits comfortably alongside the neo-classical movement, but after luring us into a false sense of tranquility, the following title track more accurately hints at what will follow. The staccato notes echo over an empty landscape, slowly transforming into discernible substance, all tied together with Linnea’s husky vocal. Unpredictably delivered by only the slightest of means, the only instruments on show throughout ‘Ah!’s compelling forty minutes (aside a Middle Eastern goblet drum called a darbuka) – are Linnea’s voice and her beloved cello.

 

‘Ah!’ was written, Olsson says, in a short burst of creativity. “I sat down with the cello and it was a bit like a flood,” she says. The result is an unforgettable record that, despite its strikingly simple methodology, lingers long in the imagination. This is true of the most desolate tracks – like the skeletal ‘Guilt’, the atmospheric ‘It’s OK’ and the almost baroque ‘Never Again’. The more upbeat tracks include ‘All 4 U’, which recalls some of the early Vini Reilly /Durutti Column recordings.

 

The album’s first single ‘Dinosaur’ is imaginative and playful piece of chamber pop, accompanied by an equally charming music video. Despite the incredible level of musicianship on display, Linnea allows her experimentation to take centre stage; unsurprising from an artist who cites Björk’s ‘Army Of Me’, Cher’s ‘The Shoop Shoop Song’ and the soundtrack to The Commitments as influences that shaped her desire to create music.

 

Raised by musicians in Halmstad, a small port city on the west coast of Sweden, Linnea began taking cello lessons at the age of six. Though life at home was vital in shaping her aspirations, her environment’s natural beauty also inspired a lifelong love of the natural world that is a constant source of inspiration for her lyrics.

 

Olsson may, quite literally, carry little baggage, but she brings a lot wherever she travels. That’s the beauty of the technology she employs. “I abuse delay,” she admits. “It is my favourite effect of all time. I felt I wanted to try and perform alone on stage as I’ve never done that before – only when playing Bach suites, that is – and the first time I did it I felt overwhelmingly free.”