Daniel Ögren - Brev Till Kristinehamn
I have a very close relationship with Daniel Ögren, as he used to play guitar with me on shows for my first record. Then, unfortunately, we had to take different paths, because he wanted to focus on his solo project. I totally respect that and I totally understand - even if I have a band this is still very much my project. It was super hard to see him leave the band and I was a little bit angry with him for leaving me. But Daniel has the same desire for his work that I do for my project. I respect his decision.

Then he made a really beautiful record called Laponia, for which I did the cover art. Then, when he sent Brev Till Kristinehamn to me, I was quite surprised by what he had achieved. I was expecting more like the Laponia album - jazz improvisation combined with field recordings and weird sounds - but Brev Till Kristinehamn turned out to be totally different. It was a lot more electronic with dirty, organic beats and fantastic melodies. There are many different styles blended into each other - folk and jazz, as well as ambient and pop music. The album is a mixture of different things.

I know you are thinking that he is my friend so that is why he is on this list. I have many friends making really, really good music, but none of them has made one of my absolute favourite records ever. Daniel has managed it and totally deserves to be on the list. I love that the thing that connects all his different styles is the melody. I can compare the way he creates a melody with the way that Bo Hansson, who is also on this list, creates a melody. It is a melody that feels very intimate and personal even though there are no words. I don't miss a voice, as the melody feels like a voice. It is communicating in the same way.

Daniel has no idea that I am putting his record on my list, but I was curious about his inspiration for this record, as it is so different from the previous one. So, I asked him and he wrote back and told me that he had been listening to a lot of Bolivian folk music, Robert Fripp, Vincent Gallo and Benny Andersson - who made some really interesting solo stuff after ABBA - and I think you can hear some of the influences on the record.