Artist Of The Week #143 - Lilly Ahlberg
This week’s Artist Of The Week is London based, Swedish singer-songwriter Lilly Ahlberg - who has just released her debut EP ‘Call Me’. Taking a fresh twist on the minimalist Scandi cool genre, and giving it a more sophisticated direction - Lily draws you in with moments of pure honesty. She took a moment to explain the release in more depth.
Hey there Lilly, how are you? Your debut EP is out now - how does it feel to be releasing music during a troubled time for the creative industry?
Hi! I’m very well. Yes it is finally out and I am so excited about it. It feels okay to be releasing during this time, but obviously I’m praying that things go back to normal as fast as possible. I miss playing gigs so much, but we are still building my online presence and streams, so I think that COVID hasn’t had too much of a bad impact on my project as things are right now anyway!
It is titled ‘Call Me’ - does that hold any meaning to you?
I chose ‘Call Me’ as the title because it’s one of my favourite tracks on the EP. I wrote the track ‘Call Me’ a really long time ago now, but I always knew I wanted to release it as it was one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written. I also like how ‘Call Me EP’ sounds.
What are the key themes on the EP?
The key themes of the EP are: Emotions, Sensitivity, Honesty & Searching.
One of your singles was written with Justin Tranter - who has worked with the likes of Lady Gaga and Ariane Grande. How did that partnership come about? And what was the experience like working with Justin?
So, Justin Tranter played a hand in the track ‘Call Me’, I think originally because Selena Gomez's team were interested in Selena recording a version of the song and possibly releasing it (and Justin works with Selena). I was really excited about that, as having a Selena Gomez cut would open massive doors for me as a songwriter and even as an artist. Also, the producer of ‘Call Me’ Jerker Hansson, was working quite a bit with Justin Tranter in LA at the time too. I never personally got to meet Justin but hopefully one day!
You were born in Italy, moved to England then back to your native country of Sweden. Do you feel your change in locations have helped shape your musical style and tastes?
Yes I think it has definitely had an impact! I’m half English and half Swedish, and growing up I’ve always listened to a lot of UK indie music, but also a lot of Scandinavian POP. I think my music has developed into some kind of interesting mix of the both now which I only recently realised! My love for acoustic folk music grew when my family and I lived in Australia for a couple years too, and I would like to think that side shines through a bit in my music as well.
At the age of fourteen, your brother taught you how to play Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ on guitar - and are now a multi-instrumentalist. What other instruments can you play?
He did indeed. Most of what I know on guitar either my brother taught me, or I learnt on YouTube, however after a while I did want to take my skills to the next level so I started taking guitar lessons with my childhood music teacher Robert. It was good to learn more about the theory behind how it all worked, I make so much use of it now when writing songs! He also taught me how to play piano and the theory behind that. And when I lived in Australia and went through my little "hippie phase" I started playing quite a bit of ukulele too, but that was very easy to learn because of the background in guitar.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
Oooh this is difficult! I really like, “You told me that I was unique like a snowflake in the sun” from ‘Call Me’, I just think it’s quite fun and quirky. No one would ever really say that these days but it makes me think of a more romantic world, or even a Disney movie haha! I also like "My turbulence is driving every one away, I’m always up and down” from ‘Moonlight’ I think it’s a very relatable lyric and very honest.
Now the debut EP is out there, what next for you?
I definitely want to keep releasing! I think that is what makes the most sense with the weird world at the moment, as I can’t do any gigs or travelling. I know a lot of people take breaks after they’ve put out a body of work, but I have SO many songs that I want to release so I don’t see the point in waiting or taking a break! I’m just going to keep building and releasing music that people hopefully will love. Oh and I also have my own line of ‘Call Me’ merchandise coming very soon too!