We get such a wide variety of work sent to us requesting review that sometimes it makes for a pleasant change just to sit and listen to something indecipherable and to try to put yourself in the position of a listener in the country it comes from. What would they make of it?
And that’s the challenge I set myself with Sweet Line, who is Eva Sandra Caroline Johansson from Uddevalla on the Swedish west coast.
She writes and sings ‘worship pop’ in her own language, and this, ‘Livets Ljus’, which means ‘The light of life’ is her third single this year.
Actually she sings in English, too. I accidentally found myself listening to ‘Now you are gone’, another single and in which she does a good job of imitating Althea & Donna, of the 1970’s hit ‘Uptown top ranking’ without the reggae beat.
But to return to ‘Livets Ljus’, it’s all about choosing the light when trust has run out and has a ‘quiet faith’ at its centre.
So, it’s sort of religious in tone but without being too heavy in the delivery. Something to hang onto when the winter electricity bill comes in, you’re out of food but the path to the supermarket is snowbound and you know for the folk in Kyiv it’s much worse.
The chorus translates to “I hold on to my anchor, Love, Joy and Peace, so that I do not drown in the anxiety.”
In her own words, “When everything feels wrong and there is no one you can trust, you have to turn to someone who gives you good energy.”
That’s definitely worth bearing in mind as the long, lonely cold nights set in; however you interpret that someone, or something.
And to return to my opening question, I reckon the average Swede would gain the same sensation of comfort from it.
Find her on:
Website: https://sweetline.khourycreativegroup.se/sv/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialsweetline
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_one_and_only_sweet_line/
