Jesper Lindell - Twilights
March 18, 2022

Swedish Americana singer Jesper Lindell’s second album, Twilights (coming March 18, 2022), is a creative tour de force, a compelling mix of blue-eyed soul and down-to-earth classic rock, a timeless sound coming anew from Scandinavia. During two years of setbacks – weathering label issues, a pandemic, cancelled tours, and a kidney disease to boot – Jesper and his band had little else to do but write and record music. The result is a remarkable new album recorded in their own studio in Brunnsvik, outside of Ludvika, Sweden. The record is produced by Lindell and Björn Pettersson, but is at its core a collaborative effort from the heart and soul of the whole band. This was fundamental to the recording sessions from the get-go – to encourage ideas and influences from all six members of the band. As the cherry on top, the album has three luminous guest singers: Swedish singer Klara Söderberg, one half of sister-duo First Aid Kit; French rockstar Theo Lawrence; and American singer Amy Helm, daughter of The Band’s Levon Helm. Though Twilights is inspired by legends like The Band and Van Morrison, the point has never been to copy or even imitate, but to listen and learn. To emulate an attitude, more than anything, and to follow their example in the creative process.

Other important sources of inspiration are not as obvious, musically speaking, but equally as logical. Local Ludvika rock hero Moneybrother – along with other Swedish giants such as Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Mando Diao, Atomic Swing, The Hives, The Ark, and The Creeps – all recorded their best and most timeless albums as unfiltered tributes to the American and British artists, songs and albums they loved. Lindell and his band follow the same Swedish tradition with the same unaffected attitude. Like alchemy, they turn this love and inspiration into pure auditory gold. Take the opening track “Westcoast Rain” and place it on one of Van The Man’s 70s records, and it would fit right in except for how it sounds so utterly contemporary. Or skip to “Dance”, a wholly irresistible duet with Theo Lawrence and a life-affirming tribute to both New Orleans Rhythm & Blues and Doug Sahm. “Twilight” is the one cover on the record, as well as the title source. A practically obscure track plucked from The Band’s 77 release Islands, it’s an elegant nod to the masters made no less so by Amy Helm’s luminous guest appearance.

A shy kid and talented soccer player from his hometown Ludvika, a Swedish working-class town a couple of hours northwest of Stockholm, Jesper Lindell discovered music at a young age. Recovering from a soccer injury at just 13 years old, his big brother brought him an acoustic guitar and taught him a few chords (this same brother, Anton, still plays bass in Lindell’s band). At 17, Lindell moved away from home to attend a rock high school in Örebro, where he co-founded the seventies rock band Almost Nature, inspired by bands like Savoy Brown, Grand Funk Railroad and Thin Lizzy. “I’d been writing songs since I was 13, but this was the first time I felt that thing that makes music something more than just having fun, drinking beer and dreaming of becoming a rock star. It was a mind blowing feeling and I’ve carried that same feeling every day since. It made me realize that making music was my thing.” After high school, Lindell kept playing and forming bands, eventually getting discovered and signed to a major label, BMG. A dream for any young artist, the major label experience ended up leaving Lindell disillusioned when the album never came to fruition. ​​”Trying to make music that I didn’t like myself was really depressing,” he says. “It got me to understand what I can and can’t do, what I have to do and what I must not do. If I can’t express true feelings in my music, I will lose my creativity and motivation. I must trust my instinct and only do the things that feel right.” After recovering and regaining his confidence, Lindell released an EP for BMG on his own terms in 2017 that featured Klara and Johanna Söderberg of First Aid Kit. The two were the daughters of the EP’s producer Benkt Söderberg, from the Swedish 80s band Lolita Pop, and had just wandered into the studio, joining in impromptu on vocals. Their friendship continues today, and is another example of Lindell’s gift for forging friendship and art from the difficult struggles of the music industry. In a time of great hardship, Lindell remains steadfast as ever, releasing a new album as a way to push past the difficult circumstances of COVID cancellations and his own chronic health problems. He’s got hope on the horizon, and a handful of transcendent songs, what else does he need?