© Mike Højgaard

»Music, to me, is an open road to adventure, where anything can happen. Music, to me, is a freedom that holds all emotions. Music, to me, is the most private thing and something many can share. Music, to me, is incomprehensible, enlightening, entertaining, religious, philosophical, vibrating, magical, and the strongest force I know. Music, to me, is something that makes me aware of life. Music, to me, is a free bird.«

Gustaf Ljunggren is a Swedish musician and composer based in Copenhagen. His works are often driven by a desire for introspection and immersion in a noisy world. In 2026, Gustaf Ljunggren releases the album Along The Low Road, created in collaboration with the Icelandic musician Skúli Sverrisson. Ljunggren has contributed to hundreds of releases as an instrumentalist and arranger, and over the years he has worked closely with Emil de Waal, CV Jørgensen, Steffen Brandt, Sofia Karlsson, DR Pigekoret, Eddi Reader, Anders Matthesen, and many more. For the broader Danish public, Gustaf became a familiar face when he served as bandleader on Det nye talkshow on DR1, hosted by Anders Lund Madsen. Since 2011, Gustaf Ljunggren has been the driving force behind SPOT Festival’s concert series Naked.

© PR

»Music has been a healing balm for me.«

John William Grant is an American singer, musician, and songwriter holding both American and Icelandic citizenship. He first came to prominence as a co-founder, lead vocalist, pianist, and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band The Czars. After releasing six albums between 1994 and 2006, the band disbanded, and Grant withdrew from music for four years before embarking on a solo career.

He returned in April 2010 with a critically acclaimed debut album recorded in collaboration with Midlake. Queen of Denmark was named Album of the Year 2010 by Mojo magazine and was also selected as one of the ten best albums of 2010 by The Guardian’s music critics and writers.

in briefrelease
23.01.2022

Finnish Space Travel

Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«
© Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«
© Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«

The Finnish multimedia artist Jan Anderzén has, with the album Hoshi, released under the solo moniker Tomutonttu, created a true little star. Not only because »hoshi« literally means »star« in Japanese, but above all due to the music itself. There is something cosmic, yet infinitely minute, about the sonic worlds Anderzén conjures—like a galaxy reflected in a puddle, or a space journey in a rocket carved from a hollow tree trunk. Synths emit busy, warm blips and bloops, while ultra-short vocal and instrumental samples create a recognizable blur. At once artificial and organic – soft, rounded, jagged, crackling.

Anderzén approaches sound with a playfulness I simply adore. His music is strange in an incredibly comforting way. It places me in a kind of colorful, trance-like state, only interrupted when, several times over the course of the album, I find myself smiling in delight at a particularly great sound. The synths on »Katse osuu sähköön!« The choral samples on »Kesä oli äkkiä ohi!« Milo Linnovaara’s flute on »Malta lausua ‘AH’!« And many more. Hoshi is an album packed with microscopic moments that together form a frayed, exploding, radiant, idiosyncratic whole—a stellar moment of just under 38 minutes.