''Söder om kärleken'' (''South of love'') is a 2009 album by the Swedish singer and songwriter Sofia Karlsson, her fourth studio album.

Album

''Söder om kärleken'' is Sofia Karlsson's fourth studio album. Magnus Eriksson, writing in the Swedish national daily newspaper ''

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

'', said that the melodies were soft, caressing, slightly lilting, like the lyrics, giving an immediate and close expression for her experience. Karlsson captured the nuances of love with supreme precision. If love was ambiguous, her lyrics were crystal clear and beautiful. Christel Hofberg, interviewing Karlsson in the Swedish newspaper ''Göteborgs Posten'', said that Karlsson had made a fresh start with the album, all of it being her own work except for two songs co-written. The lyrics were extremely personal: "South of Love" named a warm place where one could stand and look at love. The ''FolkWorld'' music review website wrote that it respected Karlsson for daring to record her own compositions after her two albums of covers. It liked the "solid guitar, nice violin" and other instruments, ''Blåsut'' being reminiscent of

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

in style and sound. The reviewer singled out ''Stjärnor över Asahikawa'' (Stars over

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

) as a fragile, sensitive song where Karlsson was at her best. While the album was less adventurous than her earlier work, it was beautiful and would please listeners who liked Karlsson's style, fitting "perfectly in her repertoire". Anders Dahlbom, writing on the Swedish news and culture website ''Nöje'' (part of the Swedish national tabloid ''

Expressen ''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue". ...

'') described the album as having less bite than her earlier albums, but still with a voice that always gets one to stand up and listen. Dahlbom called it Americana with a melancholy shimmer, folk music that vibrated with sensitivity and the joy of performing. The album won a gold disk in 2011.

Track listing

All the songs are by Sofia Karlsson. # Du Var Där (''You were there'') 2:57 # Skärmabrink (''Screen edge'') 2:29 # Smält Mig Till Glöd (''Melt me red hot'') 3:30 # Andra Sidan (''Side Two'') 2:53 # Dadgad (''Dadgad'') 2:41 # Dina Händer (Göteborg) (''Your hands (Gothenburg)'') 4:34 # Stjärnor Över Asahikawa (''Stars over

'') 5:59 # Visa Från Kåkbrinken (''Song from Kåkbrinken Street'') 2:35 # Blåsut (''Blåsut, Stockholm'') 2:47 # Regn över Årsta (''Rain over Årsta'') 3:11 # Andra Sidan (Repris) (''Side Two (reprise)'') 0:43 # Imma På Fönstret (''Imma in the window'') 3:02 # Alltid Dig Nära (''Always near you'') 3:28 # Näktergalen (bonus track) (''The nightingale'') 3:07

Performers

* Sofia Karlsson — vocals, Irish transverse flute,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, guitar, whistle,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, guitar,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

, Hammond B3, tenor guitar,

transverse flute A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length. Transverse flutes include the Western concert flute ...

* Gustaf Ljunggren - guitar, pedal steel, vocals,

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator gui ...

, lap steel, melody banjo, mandola, mando guitar, bass clarinet,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, tenor guitar * Henry Cederblom - electric guitar, dobro, guitar * Sofie Livebrant - vocals * Roger Tallroth -

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, tenor guitar, cittern * Stuart Duncan - violin,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Mike Marshall - mandolin * Staffan Lindfors - bass, vocals * Olle Linder - bass, drums * Per Ekdahl - shaker * Fredrik Gille - percussion * Per Svenner - floor tom * Gideon Andersson - guitar * Bent Clausen -

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

Album

Track listing

Performers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References