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 "We live in a small town in Sweden, far away from where everything happens. In the north the winters are very, very long and cold and dark. It affects me a lot.’’ It’s very hard to write immediate songs…we write songs that creep into you and stay there.’’ So says the Perisher’s vocalist and guitarist Ola Klüft. Hailing from the remote town of Umeå in Sweden, the dark snow-capped winters stretch from October to April, creating a claustraphobic but ultimately creative environment to write. Ola continues: ‘’When you’re happy, you don’t have the time to write music because you’re doing something else. When you’re a little bit low and it’s cold outside, that’s when the inspiration comes.’’ Klüft and keyboardist Martin Gustafson are lifelong friends, and along with Pehr Åström on bass and Thomas Hedlund on drums they formed The Perishers in 1997. In 2001 they signed to Swedish record label MNW/Nons and soon after released their debut album From Nothing to One, which garnered excellent reviews and won them a strong fanbase throughout Northern Europe. Seeking inspiration from such legendary lyricists as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Neil, Klüft began to write what would ultimately become Let There Be Morning. Since English isn’t his first language, he, cunningly, is able to connect his music with listeners without fully putting his own heart on the line. "I spend a lot of time writing lyrics,’’ he explains. ‘’But it would be even harder for me to write in Swedish than English. It’s so much easier to say ‘I love you’ then it is to say ‘jag älskar dig,’ which is ‘I love you’ in Swedish. I can’t really explain it, but a lot of Swedish people feel that way. I can hide behind the English words in a way that I can’t hide behind Swedish words.’" The album is an exquisite ode to love, life and loss from the universal themes on the lovelorn standouts ‘’Sway,’’ ‘’My Heart,’’ and ‘’Trouble Sleeping,” to the bleak yet beautiful duet with Sarah Isaksson “Pills”, Let There Be Morning plays out like an epic farewell. "We want people to ultimately find comfort in the songs,’’ says Gustafson. ‘’Even a song like ‘Let There Be Morning,’ which is about somebody who is about to die, is very hopeful because something better is waiting.’’ Choice words from a man who has helped create such an inspirational piece of work with Let There Be Morning. The Perishers are..... Ola Klüft – vocals, guitar Martin Gustafson – keyboards, backing vocals Pehr Åström – bass Thomas Hedlund – drums |
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