Totally Stockholm 1
Gig: Florence + The Machine Famous for her enormo
us, gale-force voice, Florence Welch released her fourth album High As Hope in 2018 and promptly swept out on a world tour. However, she wasn’t entirely done with new music – just as 2019 got started, a new single, Moderation, was released with the B-side Haunted House. Whether she’s got any more secret songs up her sleeve remains to be seen, but you can catch her live in a venue cavernous enough for her voice, Ericsson Globe, when she hits Stockholm in March. Florence + The Machine, Ericsson Globe, Mar 11 Gig: Neneh Cherry Last year marked the return of the legendary Neneh Cherry with new album Broken Politics. As you can guess from the title, the new album is a political record, and she has described lead single Kong as a protest song against the injustices refugees are having to suffer, especially in the camp in Calais. “There are a lot of children [there] who were alone, mid-journey without their parents. They were supposed to take them to England, but it never happened. People think that refugees come to places to take advantage of them – and don’t think about how they’re leaving behind things they love. I’m trying to paint a picture and put myself in the story, and the song is about putting myself in the same position as someone who doesn’t want to leave the place they are”. Produced by Massive Attack’s 3D and Four Tet, the album draws its inspiration from a lighter, brighter version of the trip-hop that crew were putting out in the 90s, soft, mesmeric electronica. She takes it live to Debaser in March. Neneh Cherry, Debaser Strand, Mar 6 Opera: King Roger Karol Szymanowski was one of the brightest Polish composers of the early 20th century, one who attempted to create a Polish national style of music before he died of tuberculosis in 1937. The most famous of the works he left behind is King Roger, an opera in three acts that sees a cold, rational, logical king encounter a mystical pagan shepherd, who proceeds to confront him with acts he can’t explain. This production at Kungliga Operan, a collaboration with Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, is the first time King Roger will be performed in Sweden. Kung Roger, Kungliga Operan, opens Mar 23 28 Photo: Wolfgang Tilmanns Photo: Denis Belyaevskiy Photo: Vincent Haycock