Solblomma (Sweden) – Torkel (single)

Solblomma, quite possibly the most quirky, enigmatic artist ever to appear in these pages, took a lengthy break since her last album, ‘Tiptoe into limbo’, almost 18 months.

I described that album, which was her take on Dante Alighieri’s allegorical poem La Divina Commedia in a modern day setting as being her most satisfactory to date, excellently conceived, written, recorded and produced.

But she hasn’t been snoozing since then by any means, rather working on another album, ‘Alla var där’ (‘Everyone was there’) which will be released on 15^th August and in which, as the title suggests, she returns to her native Swedish language and for the entire album.

The album tells a story in every song, all songs are titled with a name and each of those names is a character with their own story to tell, some of them nondescript; others bizarre.

And that’s how it is with those characters’ names too, varying between the everyday (Kjell, Eugen, Jasmine, Solvej, Mats…) and the unlikely (Brigitte Bardot, Don Quijote…). ‘Torkel’ is but one of them.

And that’s Solblomma through and through. She lives on a little planet of her own, on the cusp of normality and the world of dreams and nightmares.

I have tried to get to the root of the philosophy behind it all but have drawn a blank so far. Does the album title and the strapline that accompanies it (‘No one is here – but everyone was there’) in some way reference quantum physics and the possibility of being in two places at once? Like Schrödingers Cat was both alive and dead depending on how you looked at it?

Or are these just fairy stories recounted to tease?

Frankly, I haven’t a clue. And that is what makes her so enigmatic.

In ‘Torkel’’s case “a worn out tram is going up a hill”. Later it is “going down the valley” and then “into a tunnel”. (NB. She has a thing about trains and travels the world to ride or photograph or video special ones).

If it is Metrolink Manchester she should be grateful it turned up at all.

In each case it has left behind the one passenger that matters – her. Thrown into the lyrics are random observations like “I don’t have any mittens” and “Puccini is playing” and “the passengers have lost weight”, which have no apparent significance.

And by the end she has changed her tune, from “come back, pick me up” to “leave me, just keep going”.

The only handle I could get on it is that it is perhaps making some obscure reference to an obscure subject, Chaos Theory, in which even tiny initial differences can lead to significantly different outcomes over time, like the ‘butterfly effect’ whereby a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon could potentially trigger a tornado in the US Midwest, thousands of miles away.

We are all intertwined in every way possible. If I don’t finish this write up tonight Solblomma won’t read it until later than she should have done and that in turn will affect what she does and everyone else she knows and so it goes on.

Ok, enough of this, my brain’s hurting.

Musically, (and I recall her doing this on other Swedish language songs) she has sacrificed her trade mark electro pop sound and melody for a simple bass-led riff, assisted by the clanging sound of the tram, that is actually danceable if you are so inclined.

The song is released on Walpurgis Eve, the eve of May Day on which witches are held to ride to “an appointed rendezvous” in the culture of many countries across Northern and Eastern Europe including Sweden. I don’t think that is directly connected to the release date but with Solblomma you just never know.

The enigma continues.

Find her on:

Website: https://solblomma.com/