Matilda Schyborger (Sweden) – Claim something (single/future EP track)

I often yearn for the (re-)appearance of latter day female artists with the musical and vocal clarity of those of the 1960s/70s/80s; you know, the Joni Mitchells, Carole Kings and Melanie Safkas of this world.

I don’t mean that today’s artists can’t sing – of course they can, and some of them exceptionally well, too – but that clarity of diction that was an essential part of that era seems to have taken a backseat in favour of trendier ‘catch it if you can’ mumbled lyrics.

That isn’t the case with Matilda Schyborger. You can hear just about every word, crisp and clear, on ‘Claim something’, her first single from her forthcoming EP, ‘She’ll be fine’, which is billed as “a poetic reflection on escapism, connection, and finding meaning in the everyday.”

A multi-instrumentalist and with formal musical training that includes the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, her interests have embraced both jazz and modern pop, which she brings together in her current compositions.

There are also elements of her personal experiences to be found in her songs, especially those of isolation and bullying, which are common to many aspiring musicians at a tender age, but which she prefers and seeks to translate more positively into hope.

‘Claim something’ “celebrates the quiet power of female friendship.” It is undeniably something that women do better than men, for whom friendship amounts to buying a round of drinks at the pub, sharing a cigarette or exchanging some banter on the football terraces. (Or at least it was when I last checked).

She zeroes in on vulnerability but also the attendant solidarity and unspoken bond between women who choose to stand by each other, in a Thelma and Louise manner (but without driving over a cliff one hopes).

There’s a strange little piece of allegory that took me some time to get my head around in that she wants to ‘hunt down’ the Sun, which I initially interpreted as meaning to provide warmth so that she was never short of a ‘companion’ and “would never be cold again”.

But then there is a suggestion that doing that would be like achieving an objective, completing a task that would satisfy a challenge thrown down by someone that she not only stands by but looks up to. Make of it what you will…

Musically, well this song could have been lifted out of the 1970s, with gentle, silky production values and might have been performed by Melanie, on a ruby Tuesday.

Then it ends, unexpectedly, with little electronic noises off and twittering birds straight out of the Weyes Blood songbook. Who could possibly ask for more?

(Continues after the Spotify link).

Find her on:

Website: https://matildaschyborger.com/