Cohen - The Scandinavian Report

One of the benefits of having Spotify is that it's possible to stumble on new music all the time. One of my recent discoveries is the collection of Swedish and Scandinavian artists that performs Leonard Cohen covers. The collection was made to "honor Leonard Cohens 75th birthday and his lifetime achievements" which is great of course :)

Check out the track list [impressive]!
1. Cookies n Beans - First We Take Manhattan
2. Rebecka Törnqvist - Here It Is
3. Moto Boy - If It Be Your Will
4. Jan Malmsjö - Dansa mig till kärlekens slut
5. Ane Brun - Ain´t No Cure For Love
6. Bo Sundström - Everybody Knows
7. Sara Isaksson - Hey That´s No Way To Say Goodbye
8. Lars Halapi - Sisters of Mercy
9. Mikael Wiehe - USA är redo för demokrati (Democracy)
10. Anders Widmark - Hallelujah
11. Eva Dahlgren - Bird On The Wire
12. Vidar & Peter - In My Secret Life
13. Jenny Wilson - The Partisan
14. Olle Ljungström - Chelsea Hotel # 2
15. Sophie Zelmani - Waiting For The Miracle To Come
16. Christel Alsos - Suzanne

Find out more about the album on the website CohenScandinavianReport.com or have a listen on Spotify as soon as possible!

Cohen - The Scandinavian Report [5 min]

Sophie Zelmani x 3

I found three of Sophies videos on Youtube, what a great way of starting this rainy saturday! In Time To Kill you also see the Swedish actor Shanti Roney, from the great movie Tillsammans (Together).

Time To Kill


I Cant Change


Going Home

Sophie Zelmani

Sophie Zelmani has a special place in my heart since since 1995 when she released her first album. It was one of the first CDs i ever bought. Therefor i have been following her career since then. Im grateful to her because she opened my eyes to other singer/songwriters. Over the years i always come back to her sound when being in a slight melancholy mood. Lars Halapi has been with her from the start, writing songs and playing the guitar. He is one of the best guitar players in Sweden today, famous for his ability to interpret feelings on his strings.

Sophie's music is not grand or flashy, its simple and atmospheric, and thats her strength. To go to one of her live performaces is special, she is not really a great live act (she actually doesnt like it very much) but she stands alone and tiny on the stage with her guitar and whispers "Tack" between her songs. Nonetheless the audience is under her spell, you can feel that the songs is very much her and that you are taking part of something special. I will see her live again in October and is looking forward to it very much.

Im not going to tell you much about her personal life, because i know very little about it. She is not a public person between album releases and doesnt like to give interviews. I know that she lives outside of Stockholm with her duaghter and that she is good friends with the famous photographer Anton Corbijn (who also photographs her album covers).

Find out more about all of her albums at the official website, her new album "The Ocean And Me" was released recently.

Press photo: Anton Corbijn

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Read more about Sophie at last.fm and The Official Website
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