Behind the Bend

This is the second album from Swedish folk siren Lisa Isaakson and her band Lisa o Piu. This is the follow-up to 2009's critically-acclaimed debut album When This Was The Future. To get inspiration for the creation of Behind The Bend, Lisa spent time in a small cottage located deep in the vast woods of Vastmanland, Sweden, where she enjoyed the last breath of the summer. Every evening she and David Svedmyr walked further into the woods to an old rowing boat that lay on the edge of a forest lake. In the light of the magically ever-glowing Swedish summer midnight sun they paddled across the lake and then further along a forest creek with lush green trees that hung down over the fresh running water and water lilies. This is the kind of set and setting where you travel into another world - and the musicians themselves did. The initial recordings were made under a vaulted blue ceiling with gold stars in the old 15th century timber church of Hjulsjö, Sweden. The new album is filled with delicious and bewitching watery woodland folk hymnals - eloquent yet eerie. The harp has been given more space, the violin plays a greater role, the 12-stringed guitar plays graceful melodies and all are led by Lisa's gossamer vocals, as delicate as a wavering candle flame. Come along for the ride.