There’s something about Siv Jakobsen’s album titles that suggest an afternoon of meditation, followed by a massage, followed by an hour in a Radox bath. The previous one was ‘The Nordic Mellow’ and the new one (April 24th ) is ‘A Temporary Soothing’.
We featured the first single from it, ‘Fear the Fear’ which concerned Siv’s propensity to over-think, worry, and create problems where none exist, living in her own head, a maelstrom of negative thoughts. So, that song was an intimate exploration of fear, anxiety, change, and the struggle between being healthy and being productive. She even came up with the doom-laden line ''I fear the ness in happiness''. I’m not sure what Ken Dodd would have made of that. She reminds me of a woman I used to work with, of whom it was said, “She enjoys poor health”. And it looks as if we’re in for more of the same on the album as she sees our times as being “where just existing represents a constant battle of anxiety and fear.”
Having said that, ‘Island’ is lighter, much lighter, than ‘Fear the Fear’. She says of it, “At the song's core sits my need for creative freedom. It's a sort of reminder to always keep my creativity free and my personal space personal, to retain the freedom to make the music I want to make, work with the people I want to work with, and let them in turn be creatively free when collaborating with me.”
There’s a melancholy undertone to the song – there always is with Siv – but the tune (and there is a strong, snappy melody) and the steady common time beat stand in stark contrast to its predecessor. Analogies don’t come easy but Old Testament to New Testament for the religious; or Dark Ages versus the Edwardian era for historians might suffice.
As ever her voice has the capacity to transport you instantly into her own little world, which lies somewhere between Valhalla and the Lorelei rock.
In contrast to the creation of ‘The Nordic Mellow’, which was recorded in mere weeks, ’A Temporary Soothing’ is the fruit of almost a year of writing and recording. “It's a way for me to look back and see what I have been going through, both the good and the bad,” Siv says. “What I hope for is that people can take it and understand what they have been going through personally, too.”
We can’t wait, Siv. Nor can we wait for a live show because while she is in North America right now – indeed in Nashville as this is written - there will be three UK shows in May, as below:
May 16 - Glasgow, Hug & Pint
May 18 - Manchester, Castle Hotel
May 19 - London, Courtyard Theatre
For those in Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands some shows follow the UK ones in those countries.