When I'm Free

Description

On the striking cover of her sixth studio album, Ane Brun's melancholic gaze drifts into the middle distance with an indefinable expression blending hope, nervousness, and solitude. Is she leaving? Is she just arriving? The album's title is equally open to interpretation: is she already free? Is this freedom desired, waiting to be won? That is the whole ambiguity of When I'm Free, undoubtedly the most ambitious album by the Norwegian based in Sweden. A bold record on every level, a snapshot of a life in constant change, which Brun admits is "probably more ardent and extroverted than all my previous works," setting aside her usual humility. When I'm Free can be seen as a sequel to It All Starts With One, her lavish 2012 album, which went platinum in her native Norway. It marks a fundamental step in the progression of her songwriting since her acoustic beginnings. More spontaneous and flamboyant than ever, Ane Brun expresses her growing confidence with a full, angelic voice. The maturity of her compositions will surprise those who still imagine her as a delicate troubadour. When I'm Free brilliantly references some of the sounds that shaped Brun's youth: DJ Shadow, Charles Mingus, and Lauryn Hill, hinting at the eclecticism she has shown since childhood. Largely written in her Stockholm home studio, the album saw Brun employ new techniques to incorporate more rhythms and bass lines into the intimate, warm sound she is known for. During recording, Brun once again called on Tobias Froberg - already the producer of It All Starts With One - this time as co-producer, to refine the songs and define their final aesthetic over a period of nearly eight months, between the legendary Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, the GIG studio where her previous album was recorded, and her own home studio. It was, she admits, "arduous but smooth." The result speaks for itself: elegant and particularly sophisticated, the album explores different directions, from the fragile All we want is love to the punchy Directions, from the arabesques of Shape of a heart to the confessions of Black Notebook. The musicians at work are those who toured the world with Brun for most of 2013: bassist Dan Berglund (former member of Esbjorn Svensson Trio), pianist Martin Hederos (Soundtrack Of Our Lives), drummer Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums), and guitarist Johan Lindstrom, all also members of the instrumental group Tonbruket. Also contributing to the album were Lars Skoglund (Lykke Li) and Ola Hultgren on drums; Tobias Gabrielsson on electric bass; Linnea Olsson and Nina Kand Sabina Ddumba (backing vocals), and John Eriksson (of Peter, Bjorn & John), who plays timpani on Directions and various percussion on Black Notebook. When I'm Free arrives during a busy period for Brun. On permanent tour - solo or in groups of varying sizes - she found time in 2013 to release a best-of 'Songs 2003-2013' and an album of 'Rarities'. She also co-wrote a hit in early 2015 (Top 5 in the UK and #1 on the dance chart) with Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto based on her song 'Can't Stop Playing'. "Sometimes," she concludes, "when I go to my studio to compose, I get stage fright as if I were about to meet someone I'm very much in love with. I think my music and I are lovers!" A relationship one can only be jealous of, and for which we can at least be grateful she shares the benefits. This is the sound of freedom.