Leaving on a Mayday

One listen to Leaving on a Mayday, Anna Ternheim's third album, silences the harbingers of doom, with their talk of the "difficult third album". With producer Bjorn Yttling, she has recorded a set of songs with a self-evidence and rough authority which few artists are able to reach. Instead of taking the safe road, Anna and Bjorn approach the music without compromise: the songs are crystal clear, direct in their approach and refuse to hide behind any big arrangements or sonic tricks. The instrumentation is sparse, and the focus on Anna is total.

Ternheim's hauntingly poetic style- evident in both her vocals and eloquent songwriting- can be heard on every achingly beautiful song. One of the largest newspapers in Sweden was quoted as saying that Anna has "a voice that cuts like a knife. So beautiful it makes you want to cry."