''Plektrum'' is the 19th studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter

Tomas Ledin Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin (; born 25 February 1952) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken, Sweden and has sold 3 million records. Career Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when ...

, released in June 2006. In November of the same year, the album was re-issued as a 2-CD-set with a bonus track on disc 1 as well as a full bonus disc, called ''Ledin Live 2006'', featuring 14 tracks recorded during Ledin's summer tour 2006.

Album information

After taking a somewhat different musical direction with its predecessor

Med vidöppna fönster ''Med vidöppna fönster'' (''With wide open windows'') is the 18th studio album by Swedish singer/songwriter Tomas Ledin, released in March 2004. Track listing Adapted from Spotify and Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also ...

in 2004,

was back with a typical pop/rock album in June 2006 when he released ''"Plektrum"''. The title of the album comes from the so-called

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

, a small flat tool which is used for playing string instruments, most commonly a guitar. Consequently, the sound on this album relies heavily on electric and acoustic guitar sound. Half of the 10 tracks on ''"Plektrum"'' are up-tempo pop/rock compositions (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 9), whereas the other half are ballads with a typical Ledin sound and, as for the example of ''"Hela huset sov"'', critical lyrics. Recording for the album took place in Bell Studio,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, with the exception of ''"Jag kanske inte säger det så ofta"'', which was recorded at Boon Studio and produced by Lasse Andersson. The rest of the album was produced by Jörgen Ingeström and Bo Reimer.

Track listing

Singles and reception

''"Plektrum"'' includes a re-recording of the Ledin composition ''"Vi är på gång"'', which was originally released in 1983 in Swedish and English (''"We're On The Beat"''). In 2006, the title became Sweden's official song for this year's soccer world championships, the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, in Germany. For this occasion, Ledin party re-wrote the lyrics and released the song on single in May 2006. Predictably, the single charted high in the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

and eventually gave Ledin his biggest chart-hit since 1990s ''"En del av mitt hjärta"'' by reaching the top5. According to

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

Sweden, the single was certified 4× Platinum as early as 17 May, just a week after its release. The first single released from ''"Plektrum"'', some two months before the album was released, was ''"Gilla läget"'', a modern combination of pop and rock. The single immediately entered the

and stayed on it for 17 weeks, eventually peaking at number 14. Additionally, it also managed to enter the important Swedish radio chart

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

for one week at number 9. The album itself entered the Swedish albums chart,

Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

, at number 1, becoming Ledin's first studio album in ten years which topped the charts. In August, the album was certified Gold. Two more tracks from ''"Plektrum"'' were tested for the

charts in summer and winter 2006: ''"Jag kanske inte säger det så ofta"'' and ''"Änglar i snön"''. However, neither one managed to enter the top10.

Re-release: Ledin Live 2006

On 29 November 2006, ''"Plektrum"'' was re-released as a 2-CD set. For this re-issue, the word "Ledin" on the cover was coloured in red instead of yellow. Besides including a new version of the track ''"Änglar i snön"'' on disc 1, the second disc of this 2-CD set featured 14 songs which were recorded during

's live tour the previous summer. This bonus disc, titled ''"Ledin Live 2006"'', is a shortened version of a digital album called ''"Live sommar 2006"'', which had been released on 14 August 2006. This original version included three more tracks, making it a total of 17, which was the complete live-set of Ledin's tour that summer.

Personnel

The following musicians participated in the recording sessions for the ''"Plektrum"'' album:Plektrum, booklet *

: vocals, guitar *Jörgen Ingeström: keyboard, drums-programming, bass-programming, guitar,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

*Sebastian Nylund: guitar *Ove Andersson: bass, backing vocals *Bo Reimer: percussion *Lasse Andersson: keyboard, drums, guitar, percussion *Joakim Milder:

String String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

-arrangement, conductor *Stockholm Session Strings *Matthias Venge: guitar *Gustav Pettersson:

''additional for bonus track on disc 1 ("Änglar i snön" decemberversion):'' *Ola Gustavsson: guitar *Jarmo Lindell: bass *Johan Franzon: drums, percussion The ''live'' recordings on the bonus disc ''"Ledin Live 2006"'' feature the following musicians: *

: vocals, guitar, harmonica *Jörgen Ingströn: keyboard,

*Sebastian Nylund: guitar,

*Ove Andersson: bass *Johan Franzon: drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plektrum, Tomas, Ledin 2006 albums Tomas Ledin albums