FEATURE:
Revisiting…
Dagny - Strangers / Lovers
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AS the wonderful Dagny…
is releasing her second studio album (or ‘mini-album’, technically), ELLE, soon, I wanted to shine a light on her amazing 2020 debut, Strangers / Lovers. She (Dagny Norvoll Sandvik) has talked about the album and breaking that ‘second album curse’ that some artists face. Strangers / Lovers was acclaimed and popular - though you do not hear as many of these wonderful songs as you’d like on the radio. I will come to some of the amazingly positive reviews that this album accrued. Released during a real peak in the pandemic, it must have been frustrating for Dagny not to be able to tour the album and talk about it how she would have liked. Strangers / Lovers provided great relief and released for her fans at a difficult time! Check out her Instagram for updates regarding the new mini-album. I think that her debut is one of the most impressive of this decade. It is terrific and needs to be heard by everyone. I am going to start with an interview from The Last Mixed Tape. Released on 2nd October, 2020, Dagny’s remarkable debut album definitely made a big impression:
“Following her breakthrough hit ‘Backbeat’ grabbed music fans attention in 2016, Dagny has been building towards the creation and release of her forthcoming debut studio album Strangers / Lovers (due out on October 2nd). Speaking about the road leading up to this pivotal point, Dagny reflects. “It’s funny, I’ve been singing since I was 16 years old and I’ve found old interviews from years ago where I am promising my debut album was just around the corner. I eventually had to stop saying that, cause it wasn’t true. I wasn’t ready yet. Since ‘Backbeat’ I had so much to learn, I’ve always wanted to tell a story on a bigger picture and show a different side to my music, but it wasn’t until last year that I felt the time was right.”
“I think when I decided to set up my own label,” Dagny continues. “I felt I had the freedom to make the album. I had 250 songs to work through, and people were looking for a massive hit but I much rather the idea of making a full record. I enjoyed the process of telling a story not with just one song but with lots of songs and sounds. Plus, I’ve been gigging the same ten songs for years, so I think me and the people who have stayed with me all this time are ready for something new”.
Set for its full release on October 2nd, Strangers / Lovers is an album cast across two parts, one of which (side A) was released earlier this summer. Speaking about the narrative and thematic concepts that went being the record, Dagny states, “the two sides to the album came to me a long time ago. I’m from Northern Norway, and we get 24 hours of night and 24-hour daytime depending on the time of year. I remember saying that when I got the chance to do a full album, I wanted to make something that had both a light and a dark side. Side A is upbeat like summer, while Side B feels more like Autumn.”
“I react emotionally to songs” Dagny comments when asked about how she curated years of songwriting into her debut offering and fit with the central narrative of the album. “So I was able to bring everything down to the songs I connected with the most, and I felt I could make the contours of a full story. The idea of going from Strangers to Lovers and back to Strangers again is brutal. The idea of being close to someone then not being able to pick up the phone to talk to them again. Side A is chronological, it’s about meeting up and falling in love like ‘Come Over’ and ‘Paris’, but by the time you get to Side B you can see things aren’t what they once were.”
Live shows are such an essential part of the music. With the current pandemic impacting performances across the globe, Dagny looks forward to finally being able to perform once again, stating. “I love live music, it’s what I live for. Gigging is the reward to making this album, I miss it and hope that I can go out and play this album before I go and start the next one. I really can’t wait to play ‘Somebody’, ‘Come Over’ and ‘Coulda Woulda Shoulda’. So hopefully things will go back to normal soon, for both musicians and fans”.
I will come to a couple of the reviews. There was a lot of positive reaction to the amazing Strangers / Lovers. Awarding the album 9 out 10, this is what The Line of Best Fit said about a sensational debut album that announced this very special artist. If you have not checked out Strangers / Lovers, then I would thoroughly urge you to:
“Ever since bursting on to the scene with the dazzling Backbeat in 2015, Dagny has continued to deliver hit after hit. Having opened The Line Of Best Fit Five Day Forecast event back in 2017, the Norwegian star has steadily made a name for herself as a genuinely talented song-writer, a reputation which was boosted by the release of the first tranche of songs from her debut album Strangers / Lovers earlier this year.
Having proven her pop pedigree by penning tracks for Katy Perry and collaborating with Steve Aoki amongst others, Dagny’s song-writing prowess is there for all to see on this record, the second half of which, Lovers, completes the set. It’s unusual to be able to refer to something as ‘classic’ sounding for an artist when talking about their debut album, but Dagny has released such a wealth of material in the years leading up to this record that it’s hard to argue otherwise; as we’ve come to expect, this is powerful, punchy, effervescent pop music at its finest.
The latter half of Strangers / Lovers sees Dagny in her prime: open-hearted about being broken-hearted, free to muse on the highs and lows of new relationships and exuding boundless energy. Explaining why the album was released in two parts, Dagny explains “there was a very clear divide in the lyrics. There's this part that's about going into a relationship that's happy, and then there's also this part that explores the story of being out of a relationship. I felt like putting them together as one big package felt confusing.”
Following on from the foot-stomping, euphoric sounding tracks on Strangers, such as “Somebody” and Come Over”, there are elements of Lovers which are similarly explosive, irresistibly catchy and produced to perfection. You can be sure that if dancefloors were still a thing in 2020, they’d be packed out with people bouncing to the punchy bassline on “It’s Only A Heartbreak” and joining in with the ‘Oooooh’s’ on “Bye Bye Baby”. There are nevertheless some more tender moments scattered throughout, such as the melancholy piano-ballad “Bad At Love” and a nod to Dagny’s hometown of Tromsø on the closing track “Coast To Coast”.
Overall, Strangers / Lovers confirms Dagny as a true force to be reckoned with - a stellar record, consistent in its emphatic sound and almost entirely without fault”.
I will finish off with a review from The Independent. As many fans get excited about the release of ELLE – the first of a trilogy of mini-albums, it is scheduled to be released at the turn of the year -, I think that there is still a lot to get from the magnificent Strangers / Lovers:
“In Dagny’s native town of Tromsø, Norway, the sun is obscured from view from November through to January. Perhaps this explains why the artist – full name Dagny Sandvik – is compelled to make such dazzling pop music.
Her debut album, Strangers / Lovers, is a veritable koldtbord of slick, danceable tracks that capture both the euphoria of love and the defiance of heartbreak. On “Somebody”, she’s giddy, soaring across propulsive synth beats to reach an anthemic chorus; the shimmering “Bye Bye Baby” revels in the catharsis of closure. There’s a wonderful Fleetwood Mac bass thrum on “Moment”, while “It’s Only a Heartbreak” – inspired in part by Humphrey Bogart’s famous “Here’s looking at you, kid” line from Casablanca – is a clever twist on the oft-explored theme of unrequited love.
Dagny's debut has arrived a couple of years after the UK's Scandipop frenzy, which might be perfect timing. While it’s been noted that she might (to date) lack the big personality of stars such as Katy Perry (Dagny co-wrote and was sampled on Perry’s 2019 hit “Never Really Over”), her personality – and music – seems more inspired by the quirks and introspectiveness of early Sia. Which is by no means a bad place to be. RO”.
An album I loved when it came out. Strangers / Lovers is a wonderful, moving and enormously impressive release from the Norwegian queen, Dagny. She is one of the best artists in music right now. Such a complete talent who is going to inspire so many other artists in years to come. If you have not explored the brilliant, vibrant, varied, mature, open and awes-inspiring Strangers / Lovers, then make sure that this beautiful album…
DOES not pass you by.