The last time Jenny Rossander, aka Lydmor, came to Shanghai - in October 2014 - she ended her show in the middle of the floor at Yuyintang on her knees and clutching her microphone while the audience looked on absolutely captivated. Since then, the young Danish artist has been casting similar spells on crowds across the globe with her utterly charming sets of piano-propelled ballads and Lykke Li-esque electro-pop. 2015 also saw her release two excellent LPs - one solo and one with Bon Homme - and embark on a series of 'trust tours', which took place in strangers' homes.
As she returns to Shanghai for a co-headlining show with former Das Racist rapper Heems, Rossander talks to Time Out about her recent albums, her live shows and reinventing her sound.
What are your strongest memories from your last visit to Shanghai? Shanghai was the last destination on my last tour. It made a really big impression on me. It had a sense of something completely different, an otherness that I had a hard time defining. A lot of big cities are very much like Europe. Shanghai has its own thing! I remember sitting in a cab right when we arrived looking out on all the big beautiful buildings, feeling like I had entered som kind of sci fi dream land.
I am looking forward to going back to the city like a child before Christmas. I've made sure I have some time off this time around so I can go explore the city and try to understand that Otherness.
Last time you played at Yuyintang, you ended your show on your knees in the middle of the audience. Is breaking down boundaries and getting closer to the crowd often part of your live performance?
I feel very playful on the stage. It's so interesting to play with what people expect, and to dance on the line between performance and reality. When I'm suddenly in the audience among people I like to think that I erase that whole fancy stage thing and become a real person. I don't really like it when I feel too disconnected to the audience. Small venues are perfect for me.
Do you prefer performing live or being in the studio writing songs?
These two are so connected that I could never ever pick one or the other. Both are an exploration. But into two quite different worlds. When I'm in the studio and writing my music it gets explosive, I go into places in myself that I could never ever go in front of people. I liquify, crystallise and shatter and then I study the shards and make sculptures of them. Some other times I just sit around and tweak a single sound for hours on end. Just to erase it and start into another direction. Oh it's such a labyrinth! I could go on for hours about it.
Playing live is more a connecting thing for me. Showing people a piece of myself to see how they react to it. Throughout the duration of a show you can build up a special relationship to you audience, one that is completely unique for that evening. Every applause, every silence, every face I see in the audience becomes a part of the whole painting, and if the mood is right it can be a dreamy ride.
Tell us about your ‘trust tour’ concept.
Trust touring started as a small idea and a YouTube video that I posted to see if people would be interested in having me play in their homes. The response I got was overwhelming and I suddenly had a month in my calendar completely filled up with unique private shows.
I had a few different goals that inspired me to do it. Firstly I think my music is quite intimate in its nature so playing small shows somewhere where the audience would feel comfortable was an interesting way to explore that further. Also I wanted to break the whole 'fancy musician on a stage hiding in backstage rooms' illusion and get on eye level with my audience.
Something I did not expect was the close connection I ended up having with a lot of the 'hosts'. Because they were opening up their homes, doing something they never did before, many were quite nervous and - especially in the beginning - so was I. Sharing the jitters and the sense of accomplishment when it went well, created a bond between me and them and I'm happy to say that some of them have become close friends today.
Would you ever consider doing a ‘trust tour’ in China?
Yes! If I find myself in China with enough time to do it, I definitely would!
What does your ideal gig look/sound/feel like?
An orgasmic ride through wonderland. Or just something really honest.
You released two records last year; one solo, one with Bon Homme. How did the collaboration with Bon Homme first come about and what appealed to you about working with him?
Me and Tomas has worked together on a lot of different things in the past. We met when I was warming up for his band Whomadewho, where we ended up sitting in the back of a tour bus listening to music and talking about creativity and we just really clicked!
You’ve had a number of collaborations over the years; what is it about working with other artists that you enjoy?
The recent years has really been in the sign of collabs for me. I think it's because in the beginning of my career I didn't really know very many musicians, so when I got more known and my music started to spread I got to know more musicians and I was just so hungry and curious to try and work with a lot of them! It was so exciting to see how other people worked and compare their ideas and thoughts on making music. Right now I'm kinda on the way back into my own space. I feel like I need to process all the things I've learned. It's like a lazer gun loading up.
Where did the songs come from for Y?
The songs came from some very turbulent years full of change. It is basically the story of me becoming a woman. Worts and all. I wanted to show everything, and show it in a way that could let people know that it's ok to feel ugly things sometimes and that every area of your life can be beautiful.
Were they tracks that you had been working on for some time or was it written over a short period of time?
That's a bit different. 'So Cool' for example was written produced and recorded on one night after I came home from a very fancy club. The whole song just kinda appeared in its finished state on my computer. 'Mark of Beauty' on the other hand took such a long time to find its place. I wrote the chorus as one of the first things in the album process but it was really difficult for me to find the right production for it. It was one of the last songs that I finished.
What inspired the music on that album?
The ups and downs of the years in which I made it. And a lot of touring. I would write the songs and play them the next day to observe what they did to the audience, and then make changes when I got home. Sometimes I feel like it was produced together with the people who attended the shows in that time.
The video for ‘Mrs. Me 2.0’ features you pixelated, caught between the real and digital worlds and being portrayed as something of an outcast. Is that something you ever feel in real life too?
I was a very geeky child. Playing video games, reading a lot of fantasy books. I was bullied and certainly an outcast. Sometimes I look at my current life of touring and partying and making music and I get this weird feeling that it's just something I'm pretending. And that any time someone could come and take it all away. I know it's silly but it does scare me.
Can you talk a little about your songwriting process in general and how you create your music?
I get this question sometimes and it's one of the hardest to answer! You see I haven't really mapped my creative process yet, and every song still comes out differently. Sometimes I start with a beat, sometimes a chord on a piano, a sound on a synth, a line of lyrics in my head or even just a single word that fascinates me.
Are you already working on a follow up album?
Currently I'm doing a lot of musical experiments. I don't really know if the stuff I'm doing will end up on the album, it feels more like research. I have this burning desire to do something new, and get a little bit out of the 'electropop' box I've put myself in. I want to create the sound of the future, but it's so difficult. So much referencing is going on in music today. It's all eighties, nineties, sixties, seventies etc etc. I think today's musicians have a hard duty on their shoulders to try their best to get us all out of that loop.
So I'm trying to figure out how to do that. I don't have the answers yet, but I have a million questions and I feel like I'm on an exciting road.
