Totally Stockholm 1
You have said that you wanted to be more direct i
n the lyrics on this album, with more straightforward metaphors. Political, even? I don’t sit at home and think that something will be political. But unfortunately everything I do is political just because I wake up in this body, something I could do without. It would perhaps be the ultimate freedom to write about an everyday existence where everything was milk and honey. An everyday that wasn’t affected by notions of identity and origin? Exactly. I am proud and happy of my heritage, of course, and think it’s fabulous if I can help so that others feel strengthened through that. That’s great! At the same time I can be irritated over the fact that whatever the hell I do it will be viewed as a political standpoint. But that says more about the society we live in than about me. Your videos for both I Owe You Nothing and Breathe as well a Remember are shot in Gambia, in a big city and in a small village. I looove making videos, and this was the first time I decided on doing exactly whatever I wanted to do myself. It was dead scary and at the same time I was secure in the feeling that this would work out. Of course seven million things happened that could have made me give up, but I knew it would work out. I have never been so satisfied with anything, I was content even before I got to see the final result. To sweat through difficulties and finally make it, that’s probably the one feeling I’m always chasing in life, no matter what. How do you listen to music? Do you have a professional perspective? I’m like just a fan. I’m not that much of a nerd. There are genres I listen to, without over-analysing. Reggae, dancehall. It’s nice to just listen, it’s music that I won’t do myself. I’m beginning to reach a certain age – even if I know that those that are older will hate me now – where I don’t follow what’s going on as well as before. My little sister who’s ten years younger doesn’t think it’s very exciting if I come along without being in the know. It’s a weird feeling not being the youngest and coolest anymore, haha, even if it was quite some time ago that I was. Do you find new sources of inspiration among the new artists, or do you keep to trusted sources like Lauren Hill and Beyoncé? The foundation doesn’t change, no matter how much I want to love new music. I listen differently now when certain voices has become part of my DNA. I would still namedrop the same artists today even if I haven’t listened to a single Jill Scottsong for a year and a half. But now, after some stagnation, we have new music again that is very good. Daniel Caesar, or the voice of Khalid. You wear a Neneh Cherry t-shirt in the video to I Owe You Nothing and have Mapei on your shirt in a promo picture. Pretty good winks. I have a great stylist who loves them just as much as I do. I always want to wear them, they’re legendary. Neneh is the biggest thing we’ve had, I love Neneh. I met her a couple of weeks ago and her energy has really stood still in time. And that’s the result of a creative life – a long life without compromise – that’s what I want! After the October gig in Globen, you do Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen the following month. And then what? I don’t know. It depends on if people like this new album. I do know that I want a more creative life. I want to spend more time in the studio, so I will prioritise a schedule. At the same time – and I know it sounds like a contradiction – I want a life, for example through not touring. I have had an apartment now for a year and a half and I haven’t got going in making the kitchen yet. Regardless of how much I have mucked about on Södermalm my head has gone from thinking about touring to the next album. If I don’t begin to think about the rest of my life – the kitchen, routines, taking care of family relations that I have neglected for about five years, perhaps enter a relationship – I will probably regret it. At the same time I want to live in the studio so it doesn’t really add up. I have stopped having detailed goals, and learned to accept what makes me happy. What if I don’t want to work with music one day, even if it seems very unlikely, then I would want to accept that it’s where my life is directing me. To be as good as those I collaborate with – Salem Al Fakir, Vincent Pontare and Oskar Linnros, wo all accept who they are and follow their respective ideas. I don’t think you can ever get that good if you don’t believe in yourself and very clearly choose that this is the life you want to live. I want to do that too, without being afraid of what it would lead to, the same way I used to. Seinabo Sey’s album I’m a Dream will be out soon. She plays Globen on October 5. 14