Several times I’ve put my ‘reputation’ for what it's worth on the line by stating that such and such an artist or band is going to be ‘big’. I’ve thought that about LÖV since I first heard them and this lovely little song doesn’t change my mind one jot.
It helps when there are musicians of the calibre of Øystein Skar, Martin Halla and Marte Eberson but there’s more to it than that.
Marte Eberson, who wrote it, put this statement on social media:
“Today I'm releasing a song with the band LÖV. I want to dedicate it first and foremost to my mother. But also to you my friends who need it right now or want to forward it to someone else who needs it. It's a song made for all of you who need a little comfort in everything that's painful and difficult.”
She adds, “It sums up a lot of thoughts and feelings both we, and probably many others, have felt the months that have passed. A lot of loneliness, regret, faith and love. We hope it can contribute with some light during an otherwise strange time. Hope you like it. Love from Marte.”
‘A song made for you’ is the first single from the EP ′Letters of isolation’, which the band has worked on during the pandemic. I understand it may be released in December.
Marte is currently locked away in a remote Norwegian cabin, writing, and possibly other band members are doing the same.
‘A song made for you’ stands in some contrast to an earlier song she wrote about the pandemic, an instrumental piece for piano labelled ‘Korona Toccata’ which could be the soundtrack to a movie about it. I’ve included a link to it at the end.
There is a surprise at the beginning here when the vocal is from Marte rather than regular singer and ‘The Voice’ winner Martin but it shouldn’t be really as she is a solo artist in her own right, with her father and with another band as well as having been the main supporting vocalist in Highasakite. And of course it is her own personal song to her mother.
The harmonies with Martin are exceptional and when he takes to the mic alone he demonstrates his credentials as an emerging genuine world-class singer, while Øystein Skar’s arrangement towards the end is divine and instrumental to others in how to use synths in a pop ballad.
There are a couple of great lines in it. “It feels like days are passing like the clouds” and Halla’s “Don’t give up” in which Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush are evoked but with the roles reversed as it is the female who sings the line in the Gabriel song. I don’t know if that was intentional but it is highly effective.
There will always be some people who respond negatively to sentimentality in songs (the ‘thumbs-downers’ on YouTube) – and I have to admit I am occasionally one of them; but not here. This is gorgeous and I could listen to it all night. There you have it.
The best complement I can pay it is to say it could slot straight into the soundtrack for ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and it would even improve it!
LÖV live streamed performance, April 2020. The ‘Korona Toccata’ is at 30:10 on Facebook here. (I suggest you might like to watch the entire performance).
Find them on Facebook.