In days like these, dominated by dark clouds of marginalisation and isolationism, an artist like Christian Kjellvander is absolutely critical to our spiritual salvation. The Swedish singer-songwriter embraces the foreign, the unknown and seeks out the most profound sense of humanity. Take the title of his ninth album “WILD HXMANS”: something is different, disconcertingly so. Christian Kjellvander slips us an X for a U. He forces us to think, sets our senses on edge. We cast our vote with an X, but we also use it to blot out a mistake. “Cross it out and forget about it – if this is how people treat each other, then we have a problem”, Christian Kjellvander suggests.
Through seven raw, compelling songs between folk, blues, Americana and free jazz, the 42-yearold speaks to us of farewells and departures, of escape and the sensation of arriving in a new world. In doing so, he crafts a sound which breathes peacefully, pulsating as he surges headlong from intimacy into incredibly dynamic, deep, oppressive darkness. At times it seems as if his music disappears, only to resurface with a flash moments later, shimmering transparently.
Christian Kjellvander is an emphatic vagabond, a daydreaming desperado. On “Strangers In Northeim” he ushers something new and untamed into a perfect little town. “Faux Guernica” is based on a road trip through the Basque country with his youngest son.
