Frida Hyvönen - Until Death Comes
Tracklist:
- I Drive My Friend
- Djuna!
- Valerie
- You Never Got Me Right
- Once I Was a Serene Teenaged Child
- Today, Tuesday
- Come Another Night
- N.Y.
- The Modern
- Straight Thin Line
When a disc arrives in the Harmonium mailbox with press claims that the artist bears resemblances to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Carole King, it’s not taken lightly. You can’t just throw those names around casually; you have to have the chops to back it up. Fortunately, Frida Hyvönen just about does, and Until Death Comes captures this complex artist just as she is hitting her stride.
Combining harmonic pop with melancholy, Hyvönen deals with dark subject matter in a surprisingly sunny way. Armed only with a piano and multiple layers of her soothing voice, she is able to tease beauty and longing from even the crassest of lyrics; even the line “once I was a serene teenaged child / once I felt your cock against my thigh” channels a strange sort of joy, strongly reminiscent of Joanna Newsom or Antony (of the Johnsons). Hers is a murky world of relative morals and questionable truths, and the music not only complements the subject matter, but enhances it, creating an otherworldly sound that is equal parts melodrama, vaudeville and circus calliope.
Her piano is at times a tool of tragedy, at others a vessel for joy. But over it all soars her shimmering voice, a beacon of grace that highlights the sadness of her words and underscores it all with a remarkable degree of hope. Sweden has given us a great number of musical treasures in recent years, but few have this level of emotional potency, particularly in a freshman effort. This debut leaves the future wide open for Hyvönen, and I for one can’t wait to hear what she does next.
Video:
I Drive My Friend