Posted on: August 7, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 2

At a time when so much great music is coming from Sweden, Theresa Andersson is no exception! Swedish-born and currently living in New Orleans, Andersson tinkers with sound and rhythm as she plays every instrument on her debut album, Hummingbird, Go!, which is set to drop on September 2, 2008.

With mouth percussion doubled for drums and a tuned down classical guitar standing in for conventional bass, Andersson’s kitchen-turned-recording-studio is yet another quirky addition to her DIY approach. Toes turning knobs, as her hands strum guitar or bow a violin, and she sings with a charismatic smile that belies her intense concentration, Andersson’s performances are little masterpieces of functional choreography. She kicks off her US tour on June 6th, so fans with have a chance to see for themselves. Tour dates below.

Check out the video below for the track, “Na Na Na.” Theresa Andersson uses a loop pedal to perform all of the instrumentation and vocals for the song. You can also find the MP3 for “Na Na Na” in the Media Section here: http://www.girlieaction.com/theresaandersson/

Na Na Na Video Streams:
Real Player:
http://theresaandersson.com/video/real.html

Quicktime:
http://theresaandersson.com/video/mov.html

Windows Media:
http://theresaandersson.com/video/wmv.html

Feel free to post video streams and the MP3 as a free download. Let me know if you need any additional tools to help spread the word about this beautiful album. Thanks!xoxoSarah

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THERESA ANDERSSON
Hummingbird, Go!
(Basin Street Records; September 2, 2008)

Theresa Andersson Announces US Tour

“I stopped thinking in terms of traditional songwriting. I worked on shapes, forms, and textures, scents and colors. Elements which are more earthy and organic inspired me.”
– Theresa Andersson

Melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre; these are the traditional building blocks of pop music. Yet although you will find them in abundance on Hummingbird, Go!, the new album by Swedish born Theresa Andersson set to be released on September 2, 2008, hardly sounds like conventional pop. That’s because the New Orleans singer-songwriter chose to approach her craft from different perspectives before she even began composing. Playing every instrument on the album with the help of a loop pedal, she took elements from her life and surroundings – her Swedish upbringing, New Orleans home, the locusts in her garden, the soda pop bottles in her kitchen – to create the uniquely beautiful tracks on Hummingbird, Go!.

Andersson’s kitchen-turned-recording-studio is just another quirky addition to her DIY approach. “The kitchen sounds amazing, it has wonderful, natural reverb,” Andersson explains. Even the room itself is audible, particularly on the vintage R&B of “Introducing the Kitchenettes.” She recorded and, ultimately, finished the album in her kitchen creating sounds to match what she heard in her head. The vibraphone on “The Waltz” is actually soda pop bottles filled with varying amounts of liquid, while the slide guitar textures on “Hi-Low” were coaxed from her primary instrument, violin. Mouth percussion doubled for drums. A classical guitar, tuned down, stood in for conventional bass. With her toes turning knobs, as her hands strum guitar or bow a violin, and she sings with a charismatic smile that belies her intense concentration, Andersson’s performances are little masterpieces of functional choreography.

Andersson’s craft does not end with her music. While mixing the record in Sweden, Andersson also needle felted 1,500 individual CD jackets for the teaser EP “I the River.”
“… that is something else I really brought into this record; I’m fascinated with textures, and love the feel and look of things. When you color wool, the final results depend on how you sort your natural colors to start. It’s the same in music.”

2 People reacted on this

  1. HummingBird, GO! is one of my favorite albums of this year. My favorite part of this album is the fact that it lets Theresa write and perform songs without having to worry about the external factors of recording and mixing so she simply just concentrate on the music. Not saying that her first album or EP that she recorded in her kitchen and knit the covers to with her mother isn’t good but this is just where its at. I finally got the chance to see her a month ago in her home away from home of New Orleans and the show was absolutely amazing, so if you have the chance get out and see the girl.

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