ALBA TALKS CASTLE IN THE SKY
"Hundred percent trust in my artistic vision"
Daniel John
What kind of journey have you been on that you are now also inviting all listeners to join in on in 'Castle in the Sky'?
All of these songs were written quite a long time ago, almost three years ago, and it has been a process to arrive at today, when we’ve finally been able to release everything. All of the songs are lyrically quite sad love songs, but for me they’re also a kind of breaking away from myself and the person I used to be, as well as a reflection on patterns in relationships rather than one specific relationship, but I’ll explain a bit what the different songs mean to me and why I chose this particular order on the EP. 'The End', which is the intro on the EP is for me a closing of what has been, the beginning of the end. 'Dancers' gives a look back at what was beautiful and the dreamlike state one lived in, the escape from reality. 'Castle in the Sky' is the moment when the illusion or enchantment breaks, when the castle in the air that you’ve built in your mind completely collapses, and you realize that what you yourself were convinced of maybe did not actually match reality at all and that you've largely projected your wishes onto someone, and in doing so been completely blind to what really is. 'Day n Night' is the emotional storm that breaks out after that, when you want to forget, replace, and be close at the same time and don’t quite know how to handle it. 'Criminal', also the closing track on the EP, is the realization that you have to move on and that what you entered into maybe wasn’t the healthiest thing. For me, despite its melancholy it still contains some light. There was something big and beautiful in what it was that took over everything but that also became the thing that made it impossible to continue.
Many people know you from songs you've written for other artists as well EDM features that have reached a global audience. Does it mainly feel exciting knowing listeners might follow you to your own projects or does it also bring a sense of pressure or expectation?
I’d probably say that it mostly just feels great that what you’ve done or are doing gets released and gets heard by an audience, so the bigger the better! Of course there’s a big part of you that is critical of your own creative work and questions whether things are good enough, and so on, and if previous releases have gone really well you naturally want to maintain that same level, if not even surpass it. So there are definitely a lot of thoughts about performance and expectations around releases and release choices, but for me, I think that’s positive, and it is a way to keep me on my toes and dare to hold on to songs until I am really satisfied with them.
Is it different to write, and to let go of, words you have when you write for yourself and for and with other artists?
Absolutely, the ALBA-project was born a bit as a way to express myself and create exactly what I personally felt like creating, to have total creative freedom to say and make exactly what I wanted. As a songwriter, I write across many different genres, both for pitching and with other artists. When working with other artists, you often function more as a tool to tell their story or express their thoughts. Of course, you can relate to a lot yourself and express things from your own experiences sometimes, but the main focus is on their journey and on helping create the most credible song possible for them. When I work for pitch, I approach the lyrics more from a conceptual perspective, creating a world or a scenario and almost stepping into a persona when writing. And yes, it’s obviously much easier to let go of certain things and compromise when it’s not for my own project. If I’m working with an artist or another songwriter who absolutely wants something a certain way and I feel differently, it’s much easier to let go of that compared to when it’s for my own project.
Are there anyones who have been with you and helped you realize your vision?
Yes, Erik Friis, who has produced and written all the music with me for the EP, is of course the foundation that made it at all possible for me to create the project and for the result to become what it is. Without him, there most likely wouldn’t be an EP. For 'Dancers' we also made a music video where Nelson Elle, who was in charge, played a very significant role in realizing the visual side of the song, which also became the starting point for the entire EP and set the tone for what was to come, I’m eternally grateful for that, and of course the label, Lilly Era, who made it possible for me to release it and gave me free rein when it came to choosing which songs would be released and had hundred percent trust in my artistic vision.
'Criminal' has an outro in Swedish, and of course you’re not unfamiliar with writing songs in a mix of languages. What comes most naturally to you, melodically or emotionally, which languages feels most natural to write your lyrics in?
As a songwriter in general I’ve had a much stronger focus on writing in English. And for this artist project I’ve almost exclusively written in English as well, that has naturally meant that I’ve developed more of my linguistic expression for the project in English. And it comes a bit more naturally and it’s much clearer to me what feels right and wrong when I write in English. However, I do enjoy writing in Swedish as well, and I often enter a slightly different melodic language if I go into the writing process thinking in Swedish instead of English. It can be a good tool sometimes to break out of thought patterns if I get stuck on something. But yeah, we will see. Most of the new material I'm writing is in English, but it might happen that some Swedish also makes its way into this project going forward.
How long has music been a part of your life?
As long as I can remember. My dad plays and teaches the violin, so music has always been present at home. I picked up my first violin when I was four and I’ve been in music classes, sung in choirs, and played instruments throughout my upbringing. Writing in different forms has also been with me since I was little, I wrote a lot of diaries, and in my early teens I also started writing my own songs at the piano, at home. Completely without any thought of making something of it at that stage, but creating has always been there in one way or another.
With so much focus lately on yourself and the EP, are you currently involved in any other artist's songs as a songwriter only?
As mentioned earlier, much of this EP was written quite a long time ago. Recently, the focus has mainly been on finishing the productions, mixes, and masters, and working on putting together the visual side of the EP but the actual writing-process for these songs was finished quite a while back. However, I’ve worked a lot this autumn on new material for the project, so we’re in the process of putting all of that together now. And there will definitely be more music before too long. As a contributing songwriter only there's also some songs expected to be released in the near future, but I rarely count my victories in advance and only really believe in them once they are actually out! (laughs) But more music is coming on that front too.
Any artists who would make your songwriter–heart really happy to get to write songs together with next?
Some acts I find incredibly exciting, right now, are Biig Piig, Charlotte Plank, and Peggy Gou, to name a few. But regardless of sound, popularity, and so on, I always feel that the most fun collaborations are the ones where you click on a personal level, where the writing-process feels free and creative, you match in energy, and you get to work on projects where artists dare to take risks, trust their own vision and are just one hundred percent authentic to themselves.
