A selection of Ola Backström‘s posthumous recordings, ‘Gråton‘ is now available. Ola Backström (1953–2004) was something of a hidden gem in Swedish alternative popular music, yet simultaneously an important and idiosyncratic artist. Until now, his solo music has only reached a small circle of friends and family. Now, more people will have the opportunity to discover his work: songs that, in another era, could have become Swedish classics.
Backström was a guitarist in Dag Vag and Stockholm Norra and played on Torkel Rasmusson‘s solo albums. However, it was alone in his home studio that he created his most personal music. Armed with only a drum machine and a guitar, he explored sounds and feelings, free from any consideration of an audience or a market. The result is a collection of songs conveying both fragility and sharpness, humour and melancholy, and always displaying a curiosity about life.
‘Ola chose not to take the easy route. He found his own personal expression, emotional and ingenious,’ recalls Torkel Rasmusson. The recordings, found on overwritten cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, were created purely for the sake of creation, amidst babysitting duties and everyday chores.
“Gråton” contains both finished songs and sketches, ranging from instrumental synthpop to absurd depictions of stage fright and everyday moments. This was an artist who never stopped searching, and whose music is now being heard twenty years after his death.
‘For Ola, art and music were a playful adventure, but also a very serious endeavour,’ says Torkel Rasmusson. ‘You can hear that in every note on this album.’
Ola Backström: Gråton
Gråton is the first and only solo album by artist Ola Backström (1953-2004). It is an unexpected album from the guitarist who helped start bands such as Dag Vag and Stockholm Norra in the 1970s. His own recordings show a Swedish path between Swedish prog and American, bright post-punk.