Edda Magnason
Edda Magnason | |
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Born | Ystad, Sweden | 22 August 1984
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Edda Karin Hjartardóttir Magnason (born 22 August 1984) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician and film actress of Icelandic descent. She has released three albums, Edda Magnason (2010), Goods (2011), and Woman Travels Alone (2014). She has also released a soundtrack album, Monica Z - Musiken från filmen (2013). She made her debut as an actress in the film Waltz for Monica, playing the leading role of Monica Zetterlund.
Early life
Magnason grew up in Lövestad, a tiny village near Ystad, Sweden, but her father is, as her name suggests, from Iceland. One of seven children, she began composing her own pieces on the piano early on in childhood, dreaming of becoming a classical concert pianist.[1]
When she was 16 she began writing electronic song-based pop music with English lyrics that she made into demo recordings. Some of these songs were used on the soundtrack of the 2002 Swedish film Hot Dog.
In 2004, she studied music composition in Gotland, then moved back to Malmö to take an active part in the music scene there.
She has developed a uniquely personal, eclectic music style which has been described as "a seamless blend of
.Music career
Solo albums
She released her self-titled debut album, Edda Magnason in January 2010 on the Caprice Records label. Produced by Jonas André and Edda Magnason, it was recorded at Nybrokajen, a classical music venue in Stockholm, with piano and vocals by Magnason. She wrote all the music and made all the illustrations for the CD booklet.
Edda Magnason was one of the best albums of 2010 according to Ingrid Strömdahl,[2] a music critic at the national Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet:
"A stylish and quirky melting pot of jazz, folk, pop. Edda Magnason emerges as a musical personality of great stature, intuitive, intelligent and poetic. Lyrics, composition, vocals, piano playing, arrangement – everything is at a high artistic level".
Magnason released her second album, Goods, in March 2011, on the Adrian Recordings label. Produced by Christoffer Lundquist and Edda Magnason, it was recorded at Lundquist's own studio, the Aerosol Grey Machine studio (AGM) with Magnason on piano and keyboards. As well as writing, singing and performing all the music, Magnason designed the cover and made all the CD booklet illustrations herself. The second track, Blondie, was released as a single in May 2011, together with a surrealistic music video directed by Jens Jansson.
In 2013, Magnason signed contracts both with
All three albums have received critical acclaim in Sweden.
Collaboration
Between 2005 and 2010, Edda Magnason collaborated with singer-songwriter,
In February 2012,
In May 2012, Adrian Recordings released Magnason's Jona, produced by Familjen, together with three remixes: a remix of Magnason's original version by Vidderna, a remix of Vidderna's version by Niva, and a remix of Niva's version by Justus Köhncke. This was inspired by the children's game Chinese whispers. A set of four music videos directed by Nisse Axman was also released.[4]
Film career
Magnason plays the leading role of
The film was described in the Swedish media as an immediate critical and public success.
Magnason herself sings the full repertoire of Zetterlund's songs on the film soundtrack. A soundtrack album, Monica Z - Musiken från filmen, produced and arranged by Peter Nordahl, was released by
Magnason was signed by
Musical theatre
In 2013, Magnason made her debut on the
Awards and prizes
Magnason was awarded the Ystad Culture Prize in 2003,[16] and was appointed as an ambassador for the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival in 2013.[17]
In 2013, Magnason received Spelmannen, a Swedish culture prize established by the evening newspaper Expressen, previously awarded to such artists as ABBA (1982), Anne Sofie von Otter (1997) and Georg Riedel (2003).[18]
Magnason was nominated for a
She received a
In December 2013, it was announced that she had been chosen as one of ten young European actors to win a
Discography
- Albums
Year | Album | Peak positions |
---|---|---|
SWE [22] | ||
2010 | Edda Magnason | – |
2011 | Goods | – |
2014 | Woman Travels Alone | 27 |
- Soundtrack album
Year | Album | Peak positions | Certification | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWE | DEN
|
FIN
| |||
2014 | Monica Z - Soundtrack[23][24][25] | 3 | 8 | 50 |
- Compilation EP
- 2012: Jona
- Others / joint albums
- 2012: Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint (with Mats Bergstrom, Steve Reich, Magnus Persson, Johan Liljedahl, Svante Henryson, Jonas Ostholm & Edda Magnason) (compilation)
- Singles
- 2011: "Handsome"
- 2011: "Blondie"
- 2013: "Sakta vi gå genom stan"
- 2015: "So Meny Layers of Colours Become a Deep Purple Heart"
- 2015: "Cocoamber (Neeco Delaf Remix)"
References
- ^ a b Short biography Caprice Records
- ^ Ingrid Strömdahl "Best records of 2010", Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish) Archived 20 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""Edda Magnason - A Swedish Shooting Star", Sofia Nyblom, Scan Magazine". Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ New EP from Sweden's quirky jazz-pop singer
- ^ Waltz for Monica, The Swedish Film Database
- ^ Swedish Film 2 2013 "Not just another biopic", pp. 28–30
- ^ "Zetterlund comes to life in Cannes", Jorn Jensen, Cineuropa
- ^ "Per Fly: interpreter of Monica Zetterlund's life", Annika Pham, Nordisk Film & TV Fond
- ^ "Both a critics and audience favourite", Jorn Jensen, Cineuropa
- ^ "Monica Zetterlund is like meatballs and Pippi Longstocking", Solveig Rundquist, The Local
- ^ Waltz for Monica Guldbagge nominations
- ^ "Jazz legend biopic dominates film nominations", The Local
- ^ a b Official Nominations and Winners list
- ^ Swedish album charts
- ^ "Paradigm signs Edda Magnason just as actress wins Berlin's Shooting Star Prize"
- ^ "List of winners of the Ystad Culture Prize (in Swedish)". Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ "Edda Magnason ambassador for Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival"
- ^ Sagolik Edda Expressen (in Swedish)
- ^ Guldbaggen Award Categories
- ^ European Shooting Stars
- ^ Interview of Edda Magnason - Shooting Stars 2014 - Sweden
- ^ "Edda Magnason discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^ swedishcharts.com: Soundtrack - Edda Magnason - Monica Z page
- ^ danishcharts.dk: Soundtrack - Edda Magnason - Monica Z page
- ^ finnishcharts.com: Soundtrack - Edda Magnason - Monica Z page