Daniel Ögren: Brev till Kristinehamn

Swedish guitarist Daniel Ögren continues to offer sonic tributes to the landscapes of Sweden. In his past releases— Laponia (Hoob, 2011) and Laponia II (Havtorn, 2013)—Ögren, known as a guitarist in singer-songwriter and organist Anna von Hauswolff's band, focused on the scenery of northern Sweden. Brev till Kristinehamn (letter to Kristinehamm} is dedicated to his home town, a railroad and road center situated by the shores of lake Vänern and exactly 250 km away from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo.

This intimate and heartfelt tribute is articulated over nine miniature songs. Ögren plays on all the instruments and released this album only on cassette or as a free download from the Havtorn Records website. He portrays Kristinehamm as a crossroads of musical influences. His emotional sonic meditations on his home town encompasses innocent and sentimental soundtracks of other, faraway worlds, industrial sounds of assorted means of transportation, portrayals of the wild nature and references of synth-pop anthems of the eighties. All form a series of vivid sonic postcards, rich with colorful nuances, describing long gone formative experiences but still cherished ones.

Simple, innocent and beautiful.