JENNY WILSON

Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer, Jenny Wilson, is the epitome of resilience.

An alumnus of First Floor Power, a late-90s Swedish pop band whose live shows inspired The Knife’s ‘You Take My Breath Away’ (to which Wilson contributed vocals), Wilson released her debut solo record, Love & Youth, back in 2005 on The Knife’s own record label, Rabid, and with each subsequent album release she has documented a life crowded with incident and challenges, from the changes brought about by motherhood, through recurring battles with cancer and, subsequently, the aftermath of sexual assault.

Wilson is a phenomenal live performer and, despite the rescheduling of several gigs in the run up to (and during) the pandemic, she managed to harness the energy she exudes in her shows and channel it into her most recent album, Mästerverket, which was recorded predominantly through complete live takes with her entire band in the studio.

Aside from Mästerverket, 2021 also saw the release of a two-track erotic horror ambient record Wilson created with her boyfriend Christian Ekvall, under the joint moniker DRIFTEN, as well as Nicole Saboune’s latest LP, Attachment Theory, which Wilson co-wrote and produced.

In allowing her vulnerability to show and, at the same time, remaining powerful, strong-willed and honest, Wilson boasts a discography that is simultaneously upsetting, moving, inspiring and galvanising.

For this episode of Melody A.M. Chris and Doron had the opportunity to meet Wilson backstage at Stockholm’s Södra Teatern before a soundcheck.

We are grateful that Wilson has also provided us with an exclusive home recording of her track, Rapin*. This interpretation of the song was originally devised for her subsequently-rescheduled solo tour in 2020. When she posted video footage of her rehearsing this version on Instagram back in November 2020 she explained: "To have the courage to tell this horrendous story I originally had to dress it in an extremely hard costume. Now I am undressing the song and [trying] to make it as beautiful and sad as I can."