W♥M

Firefox AK: Heart of Mine

Podcast Firefox AK Firefox AK, spending her morning in New York to talk to us about... Firefox AK Read More Firefox AK The original Firefox is back with a new album, If I Were A Melody, to be released this month. I call her the original, because Andrea Kellerman was using that as her ...

It’s been five years since Firefox AK (aka Andrea Kellerman) released Color the Trees, so we’re excited to hear that she is back with a new forthcoming album in early 2017. She teased us that she will once again be collaborating on a song with her friend Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide) on the new record (the two of them previously worked together on Hello Saferide’s ‘Long Lost Penpal’).

Why the long break? According to Kellerman, it was mostly due to the stress of trying to be successful at her record label: “I was probably naïve, but for me, who was used to the personal and loyal people at Razzia Records, it was almost shocking to all of a sudden work with people who were more concerned with sales figures than I was ever used to. In the end it took away the joy of making music.”

She took a break from music to raise her family (apparently in Los Angeles!) and worked as a graphic designer after all the tour promotion for Color the Trees.

Anyway, Firefox AK’s latest single and music video Heart of Mine is out now on Razzia, so she has not left the record label. The new single was produced by Claes Björklund, known for being in the duo Iamamiwhoami (with singer Jonna Lee), and the music video was directed by Mats Udd. The video has a creepy, demonic possession, vibe to it.

Sample lyrics from “Heart of Mine”:

“Told you like a thousand times
This is where I wanna be
Ruffling my feathers before your eyes

Never felt this way before
Never wanted nothing more
calling out the crazy before your eyes”

We’re big fans, of course. And in case you forget, we did speak with Andrea Kellerman when she first appeared at CMJ in 2008 via telephone. You can download the audio file on archive.org.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Säkert!

Säkert - Sanningsdan Säkert Discography [Jan 2007] Vi kommer att dö samtidigt [Feb 2007] Säkert! [May 2007] Allt som är ditt Band Members ♥ Annika Norlin ♥ Henrik Oja ♥ Daniel Berglund ♥ Lovisa Nyström ♥ Mats Hammarström Links Hello Saferide - Long Lost Penpal http://weheartmus... Hello Saferide is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is really just Annika Norlin. The name was inspired...

 

Säkert! is the Swedish-language project of Annika Norlin from Hello Saferide, which I previously mentioned on W♥M.

Recently, the band have been nominated for numerous awards in Sweden: Best Female Artist of 2007 on Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet's reader's choice award Rockbjörnen, the Swedish's version of the Grammy's (The Grammis Award) for Newcomer of the Year, plus Album of the year and Female artist of the year, among others!

It's easy to see why people are raving about Säkert! (which means "Sure!"), their debut album has one of the poppiest/catchies song called "Sanningsdan" (meaning "Truthday"?). Looking at the liner notes (all in Swedish), I think the male vocals is called Martin Hanberg from the band Sibiria. This song is excellent, in any language.

The only downside is that the whole album is in Swedish, although the album is well worth checking out if you are a Swedishpop fan (such the whole writing staff on W♥M).

I would have to say that though I can't understand it, I do get the general idea of what the song is about. For instance, "Det Kommer Bara Leda Till Nåt Ont" sounds like a dialogue between Norlin and Markus Krunegård. (I think it's about being naked or something).

Currently, it would seem that Norlin is quite busy, she's apparently the co-host (with Mattias Lindeblad) of a Swedish music radio show called Musikjournalen Live Session. I looked up Lindeblad, to see who he is, and apparently he was a bassit for a metal band called Liers in Wait from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Anyroad, I leave you now with Annika in an elevator, courtesy of musicadebolso.com.br:

 

 

12/28/2007 19:10:37 vu my♥posts myspace sakert.blogspot.com

Hello Saferide - Long Lost Penpal

Hello Saferide [May 2005] My Best Friend [2005] If I Don't Write This Song Someone I Love Will Die [Sep 2005] Introducing... [Dec 2005] Long Lost Penpal [Jun 2006] Would You Let Me Play This EP 10 Times A Day? [May 2007] I Was Definitely Made For These Times Säkert! [Jan 2007] Vi kommer att dö samtidigt [Feb 2007] Säkert! [May 2007] Allt som är ditt Live Band Members ♥ Annika Norlin ♥ Andreas Söderlund ♥ Maia Hirasawa ♥ Fredrik Hultgren ♥ Jens Lagergren Footnotes [1] From myspace.com/saferide

 

 

Hello Saferide - Long Lost Penpal

I really should let someone else (Jason) write about Hello Saferide because everyone seems to know more about her than me. I've only really discovered her recently through another voxer.

Hello Saferide is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is really just Annika Norlin. The name was inspired by "inspired by an intelligent bus driver in a drug-addicted small town" from Willimantic, Connecticut.^[1]

Regal Recordings, who's probably most famous for picking up Lily Allen, have decided to release Hello Saferide in the UK, their first 7" single is "I Was Definitely Made For These Times" with "The Quiz" as the flipside. It's marketed as a double A-Side.

Norlin is currently involved in another project, called Säkert!. They are only recording Swedish language-only releases. If you speak Swedish, you can read about them on Razzia Records. (Maybe someone can translate for me).

The song that I really like (from what I've listened to) is "Long Lost Penpal", featuring Firefox AK (Andrea Kellerman) singing the penpal part. The song is very sad and I believe might be based on actual correspondents.

I really identify with this song on more than one level. You know, before the internet, people wrote letters and we had penpals. At the height of my bedsit days, I had over forty penpals, and I'm still friends with some of them to this day. Although we don't write traditional letters anymore.

There is one woman who I dearly miss and wonder what she is doing these days. Her name is Silja R from Finland. She's an artist, loves Sparks and Davie Bowie. This is one of her envelope (I don't live there anymore).

We used to make FBs (Friendship Booklets) and send each other mix tapes. I sometime wish I could get back into letter writings and sending/receiving packages, but with my schedule as of late, I don't think I could have the time (and not to mention the costs associated with postage).

Some of the envelope art that we'd send each other were pretty creative, and I remember spending hours and hours putting just the right touch of hidden words and art. Those were the days, weren't they?

In order to save money on postage, there is a trick we used to do. We'd coat the postage stamps with a small film of glue. When we receive a package, using just a little spit, you can wipe away the canceled ink. We'd then send back each other's stamps and, of course, we'd never re-use the stamps that much, it gets suspicious after a while.

 

 

09/22/2007 10:57:38 vu my♥posts [email protected] www.hellosaferide.com myspace.com