You might be familiar with Scandinavian bands singing in their native tongue, such as Dungen (Sweden) an Jónsi (Iceland). There are of course many bands like this in Scandinavia but not many break international borders because of the language barrier. For that to happen, the music needs to be spectacular on its own. I believe I have such a band to show you now.
Hansan is a Swedish-German duo consisting of Swedish folk/Americana artist Sofia Talvik (who recently charted with her single “Too Many Churches” on folk radio U.S., and German cello genius David Floer. Together they create beautiful New Acoustic music under the name Hansan (derived from the Swedish word for the Hanseatic League, a “commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns,” says Wikipedia, in Sweden, Germany and neighboring countries, that originated in the 12th century).
The new album “Blod eller bläck” (Blood or Ink) will be released on February 14th and is preceded by three singles, “Sommarvisa” which was released in 2021, “Vårt långa land” which won the people’s vote in the category Contemporary Folk Music at the Folk and World Music Gala in 2021, but has not been officially released until recently (1/16/2023), as well as the title track “Blod eller bläck” (1/30/2023).
Hansan has its roots in folk music and jazz, but on the new album they have developed towards more rhythmic arrangements as well as floating cinematic notes – all with just cello and vocals. It is not an overstatement to say that there is no other band right now that sounds like Hansan.
