Lena Malmborg
A new time, a new life, a new religion
Crying Bob

I've been studying the female vocalists of Scandinavia with increasing attention lately. My theory is that alot of Scandi gals have a knack for diving into classic genres and redefining them from the inside out, or at least giving an extra edge to styles that often seem watered down in the US. Few things excite me more than encountering a new female vocalist who's got that edge, and so the debut solo album by Lena Malmborg made me positively giddy. Malmborg, a bluesy singer/songwriter from the southern Swedish town of Värnamo, tells on her website of being influenced early on by Muddy Waters, and later discovering the Rolling Stones, Emmylou Harris and Dylan. But what's so cool about this album is that even though this potent combination of swing blues and gritty country is reminicent of names you probably know, Malmborg has a singular style that owes little to anyone else. Her voice is both a bit raspy and texturally intoxicating. Every line she delivers goes down like a fine whiskey--you wince just slightly, then you're increasingly warmed and enveloped by the obviously pure ingredients. This is an amazingly well-produced (Malmborg shared production chores with Daniel Johansson), energetically performed album. Striking just the right balance between edgy and smooth, Lena Malmborg's superb album is for me, one of the nicest surprises of the year so far.
- Kevin Renick