EMMALISA HALLANDER TALKS OUT OF REACH

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

With songs about longing, how long might you have been longing to share this second album?

The songs on this album are ones I’ve carried with me and allowed to grow live over several years before we recorded them in November. Most of the songs were written sporadically between 2022 and 2024, but one of them actually developed from an old song idea from 2019. After doing a tour with this music in the spring of 2024 together with my band, I felt that the material had matured to the point where it was ready to be recorded. The first time I played with this new band was in the fall of 2023. And ever since then I have really been longing to record and release music together with them!

Was there anything you brought with you from your first album that you could carry into the making of 'Out of Reach'?

The entire process of releasing an album, both the fun, creative aspects and the less fun, bureaucratic tasks, I carried with me from having done it the first time with 'Have a Look Inside'. I brought inspiration from how relaxed and playful our approach to the music was in the studio with my first band, but I also remembered the moments where I overthought things, like marketing and how listeners would receive it. This time, I tried to have a more laid-back approach, and instead put my energy into what truly matters, the music and the visuals!

Two of the ten songs, 'Street of Dreams' and 'I’ll String Along With You', are interpretations. Both come from the early 1930s and it feels very much as though the whole album is rooted in a love for that period?

When writing the music, I wasn’t really trying to emulate a specific era, but since I’ve been inspired by music written by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn, I think it definitely left its marks on my music! Sometimes when I get a song idea in my head, I actually hear someone else singing it, on several of the songs on 'Out of Reach', I’ve heard Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in my mind and then let the melody and lyrics go in a direction I imagine they might have sung them. In the end, many of the songs developed a romantic, 1930s-scented tone which I wanted to enhance with string arrangements, and I added these two standard tunes because I feel they complement the rest of the tracklist beautifully.

How early did music start flowing out of you?

I’d say from the very start! In old kindergarten papers, I had written “singing” as my favorite activity, right alongside Lego and the little bikes on the schoolyard. In elementary school, my sister, friends, and I came up with lots of songs we wanted to send to the “Lilla Melodifestivalen”, the Swedish children’s Eurovision Song Contest, and I was always that attention hungry kid performing at every single school graduation.

I usually try to avoid relating interviews to myself, but something you and I actually share is we both spent time on the lawns of Fridhems Folk High School?

That’s right! Fridhem is a place I hold very close to my heart and that’s where I realized that jazz is such a deeply social genre, where you jam and have meaningful musical exchanges based on a shared repertoire! People were always recommending different records, and I spent a lot of time walking across the fields there listening to John Coltrane, Anita O’Day, Blossom Dearie, and Sarah Vaughan.

From there and out into the big wide world, what was it like touring in Japan?

It was an absolutely incredible experience and one I'll carry with me for a long time! Getting to see Tokyo, eat amazing food, and gain insight into their culture, where people are so kind and warm, it was a privilege. The clubs we played at were wonderful, and you could really feel that Japan is a country that values and appreciates live music, especially vocal jazz. I sincerely hope I get to go back someday!

The same year you released your previous album, you also debuted your other project, the pop–duo you have with Nina Sand. How often are you two making music now?

We are always writing together and plotting big plans! Right now, we have an EP in the works that will be released this spring. On top of that, we have a really exciting tour coming up with a renowned big band this spring, and we’re so looking forward to it!

What does this fall look like if someone wants to see you, or maybe the both of you together?

Sand and Hallander will be playing very soon aboard the steamship S/S Blidösund on September 4th. My big jazz gig this fall is on October 12th on the main stage at Scalateatern during the Stockholm Jazz Festival, together with the Tilde Schweitzer Big Band. Tilde is also one of my best friends and an incredible arranger, so I’m really looking forward to hearing my songs in her big band arrangements!