Easy Steps

How should we really relate to time, which inexorably rushes forward and leaves deep traces in all of us? From the youth's longing expectation, through disappointment and sadness, to, at best, reorientation and hope for the future.

With the album "Tid" ("Time"), Swedish singer, pianist and composer Nina Åkerblom Nielsen wants to touch the listener with songs from all walks of life. At the same time, the album forms an annual cycle where all seasons are represented and starts on a sunny windy September day when everything feels possible. We get to partake of thoughtfully heartfelt lyrics and timeless melodic music.

Nina describes herself as cross genre, but with a great fondness for folk music and early music. After a master's degree in singing at the Royal Academy Of Music and tours around the world with various baroque ensembles, she decided to invest wholeheartedly in her own composing. In 2018 came the album "Some Solitary Wonder", which was praised by, among others, the well reputed magazine Lira. Some of the songs were even played on Celtic Music Radio in Scotland. Nina now lives in her hometown of Jönköping, where she is inspired by the beautiful, rolling fields around her house.

Gradually, the work with the new album also became a mourning process. In the middle of the recording period, Nina's life partner, singer and saxophonist Peter Hjalmarsson, died after several years of fighting cancer. The song "Skrivet På Mitt Hjärta" ("Written On My Heart") is dedicated to him, but also their 1st son who died in the womb in late stages of pregnancy.

In the album's last song, "Sången" ("The Song"), Nina sees in front of her how she and the 2 children find a new way forward. Without husband and father, but with music as a healing force and a hope that everything will be ok. In the aftermath, Peter's saxophone is allowed to accompany them into their new reality, as a greeting from the place where time has ceased to exist.

The album's 1st single, "Lätta Steg" ("Easy Steps"), wants to convey a feeling of sudden everyday joy. Some days you simply walk with easier steps than others. Maybe because of some kind words. Or when you meet a warm and open eye, who looks at you without reservation and preconceived notions. And sometimes you may not even know why. A song from the bright side of life.