Frida Hyvönen
Country of origin:
Sweden
Type of music generally:
Beautiful and fierce, pop-influenced evocative/eclectic music
Status:
Most recent release, Kvinnor och barn (2016)
See also:
Frida Hyvönen's site
Comparisons:
Musically like Regina Spektor; piano style like Pepper Acton; vocally a bit like Laura Veirs
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
She's brilliant. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)Frida Hyvönen sings like an angel. (christina_skov@hotmail.com)
Recommended first album:
Until Death Comes
Recordings:
- Until Death Comes (2005)
- Frida Hyvönen Gives You: Music From the Dance Performance "Pudel" (2007)
- Silence Is Wild (2008)
- Frida Hyvönen Gives You: Music From Drottninglandet (2009)
- To the Soul (2012)
- Kvinnor och barn (2016)
Until Death Comes
Release info:
EU: 2005—Licking Fingers—LF018
U.S.: 2006—Secretly Canadian—SC144
Australia: 2007—Chapter Music
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Frida Hyvönen—vocals, pianos, organs, handclaps and belltree
Guest artists:
Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny)—backing vocals
Jon Bergström—drums, handclaps, tambourine, lap-steel guitar
Mattias Areskog—bass
Daniel Johansson—trumpet
Tomas Hallonsten—flügelhorn
Jari Haapalainen—vibraphone, tambourine, glockenspiel
Produced by:
Frida Hyvönen and Jari Haapalainen
Comments:
Frida Hyvönen's debut album is at once visceral and simple. She tells tales of complex relationships and shocking frankness in a voice at once experienced and naïve. She mostly just uses her piano but the brief pop nugget "Come Another Night" is a pleasant diversion. The press made comparisons with Laura Nyro, and while that may be premature, this was a spectacular start for a gifted singer. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)I love this album but don't really know how to describe it. She taps into emotions not implicitly but suggestively through storytelling, but lyrically it's a bit of work, like decoding someone's diary. Musically, her piano accompaniment consists of choppy chords rather than melodic lines. I find it strikingly different, like someone banging out their personal stories in a Tin Pan Alley bar. Maybe this doesn't sound like much of a recommendation. But it is. I find this album and this artist to be distinctive and refreshing, and I look forward to hearing what she does next. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Frida Hyvönen Gives You: Music From the Dance Performance "Pudel"
Release info:
2007
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
Although it's a performance soundtrack, it works very well on its own and I find it more similar to her debut album (my favorite) than her later studio albums. Definitely worth checking out. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Silence Is Wild
Release info:
U.S.: 2008—Secretly Canadian—SC184
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Frida Hyvönen—grand piano, honky tonk piano, glockenspiel, bells, gong, vocals, backing vocals
Guest artists:
Tammy Karlsson—drums
Linnea Olsson—bass, cello
Ida Lundén—synthesizers, organs, Hammond organ, honky tonk piano, glockenspiel
Marlene J Erlandsson, Lovisa Nyström—choir (2, 3, 12)
Markus Krunegård—choir (2, 3, 5, 12)
David Sandström—choir (2)
Jari Haapalainen—drums, bass, tambourine, percussion, finger cymbals
Produced by:
Jari Haapalainen and Frida Hyvönen
Comments:
Great album! There's more orchestration than on her debut, but you can hear how it builds on that album. There are places (especially the less orchestrated and solo songs) that sound class to that album. And then there are others that show us a whole new side of Frida. Who knew she could be so much fun as she is on "Scandinavian Blonde" and "Birds"? (JoAnn Whetsell)Huge voice and confessional lyrics. Her arrangements remind me of ABBA, somehow. (christina_skov@hotmail.com)
similar in theme/tone as Anna Ternheim, this album is very good, but somehow hasn't stuck in my head like Anna's. (jjhanson@att.net)
Silence Is Wild really fleshes out her sound beyond what we heard on Until Death Comes (itself one of my favorites of 2006) and is way high in my top tier for the year. (timjy@sbcglobal.net)
Frida Hyvönen Gives You: Music From Drottninglandet
Release info:
2009
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Medium
Comments:
Instrumentals, electronics, ticking clocks, vocals... this feels less like an album than Music From the Dance Performance "Pudel." (JoAnn Whetsell)
To the Soul
Release info:
2012
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Comments:
I love Frida Hyvönen's storytelling, her plain language, and her humor. This album does not disappoint in those areas. (JoAnn Whetsell)One of the best albums of the year. (jjhanson@att.net)
To the Soul is excellent...one song is almost disco...the rest are more of her typical story-song fare. End of the year list material for me. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)
Further info:
Compilation work includes:
- "Jesus Was a Cross Maker" on Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill (2009)
Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
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