In Conversation With #102 - Siv Jakobsen
Siv Jakobsen has just released her stunning new record ‘A Temporary Soothing’ - which with a delayed released schedule due to Covid-19, has taken on a whole new meaning. She took a moment to talk to us about working with producer Chris Bond, how the pandemic has effected her life and how the album came together.
Hey there Siv, how are you? So the album is out now - how does it feel?
It feels so good. I feel relief and so much joy seeing it out in the world.
It is titled ‘A Temporary Soothing’ - what does that mean to you?
A Temporary Soothing to me is this idea that we cannot strive to feel incredible all the time. If that is the goal we fail. To remember that life ebbs and flows, there are good days and bad days. So to feel temporarily soothed is the goal for me, and it’s what I would like this record to be for its listeners.
It was recorded with producer Chris Bond, who has worked with names like Ben Howard, how was that experience?
We had an absolute blast recording this album. It was mostly just Chris and Bear and I (Bear Bond is Chris’ brother and the engineer and assistant producer of this album) and we just had fun with the process. Tried out every idea we had, no matter how silly. It was a really magical process.
Any behind the scenes stories from the record process you are happy to share with us?
I don’t know that I have any super interesting stories to tell you, but I’ll say that I had a really nice time recording this album. I went to Devon and stayed in a tiny bed and breakfast, was picked up every morning by one of the Bond brothers, and spent the days in the studio. I spent a lot of time in between takes hanging out in a Japanese garden right next to the studio, accompanied by Marley, an old and sweet sheep dog. Most days the neighbours farms cows would stroll by the studio window. I’ve got no crazy stories, but there was a really magical atmosphere for sure.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
I think that idea of being okay with a temporary soothing, rather than a permanent one, is the over-arching theme. Many of the songs deal with my relationship with fear and anxiety, and I think this idea of a temporary soothing has helped me feel a bit calmer within my own anxieties. I tried to go into recording this album with a really open mind in relation to the production, but I of course had some over-arching ideas coming into the studio. I was after a bigger, more expansive and experimental sound, and felt very inspired by Gregory Alan Isakov and Ane Brun’s abilities in that regard.
The campaign for this release started back in January - but obviously was hit with the struggle of Covid-19. How have you dealt with this as an artist?
I think I’ve been quite fortunate in this - even though I was sad to have to move the album release it gave me a few months of a sort of vacuum, which I spent writing songs, getting into co-writing, and further preparing for the album release. I’m sad to not get to tour with my band this fall, but I am hopeful that we’ll get to be back on the road again soon.
Your North American tour got cancelled within forty-eight hours of you landing - how did you mentally process that experience?
I think it all happened so fast that I didn’t really process it until it was over and done. I felt the disappointment more when I had just come back home to Norway, quarantined, jet-lagged and realising more and more the gravity of it all. However I have to again say that I have felt fortunate in all this - I made it home safe before lock-down, and I was and I am healthy. It took a while to come to terms with having to move the album and the tour(s), but when it’s happening to everyone, you just have to accept it I guess and try to make the best of the situation.
Have the tracks taken a new meaning since you first wrote them due to the impact of the pandemic?
I think so - they feel a bit more layered now, because of the situation we’re in. The song Anywhere Else felt eerily real when we played in in the US right before lock-down. I think most people have likely felt a heightened sense of anxiety, fear and nerves over the last 6 months, and with so many of the songs on this album touching on that, I hope that it can make listeners feel a bit better.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
It’s hard to choose one. I like this lyric of Anywhere Else - it’s very straight forward and brutally honest - and feels extra potent now:
I read the news sites
And throw my sense out
Ponder tragedies and pains as if they’re mine
And I told my doctor
She says I’m too well
I’m not ill enough for help to keep me sane
Now the album is out there, what next?
I’m trying to enjoy this time and really feel proud of the album and all the work that went into it. Other than that I am also about to embark on a small, acoustic Norway tour, visiting coffee shops around the country to play small, socially distanced concerts. I am fortunate to live in a country where that is safe to do at the moment, and I’m hoping to spread a little bit of joy by playing a bit of music.