Erik Levander is from Sweden and is a dark romantic with a knack for abstract electronica and beautiful moving melodies. In a single song you will be able to hear the aftermath of digital Ragnarok intervened by divine haunting melodies and a new world rising up in the horizon built upon a weave of lush bleeps and brittle stutter.
We (as in Efterklang/Rumraket) met Erik Levander at the wonderful Forma Nova Festival back in 2005. Since then we have called him our friend and he has guested several Efterklang recordings, among them the latest Parades album. It is truly a pleasure and honor to be the label to release Kondens - his new and 2nd album as a solo artist.
The album has been underway for almost 4 years. Halfway through the process Erik’s hard drive suffered from a major crash and there was unfortunately no backup. With the kind help of donations from music loving people all over the world, enough money was raised to have the drive repaired in a fancy lab. Very unfortunate once again the data proved impossible to recover. All donators have since continued as private sponsors of the album. Almost 2 years has passed and now finally the album is finished. Some songs are completely new and some songs have been remade by building upon early stereo-mixdowns.
Erik Levander makes majestic and tender themes, which he heavily confronts with his passion for noise, classical, traditional and impro music. With the help of his computer he forms all of it into one big detailed and roaring murmur of electronica, romantic melodies, discordia, eccentric beauty and gripping drama!
Born 1981 in Linköping, Sweden Erik Levander grew up listening to bands like My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Red House Painters while taking classical clarinet lessons. Besides the clarinet Erik also masters the guitar, piano and other racket makers. All of this can be heard throughout on the album. Sometimes in their pure forms and often manipulated into a new form. Today he lives in Copenhagen where he is about to finish his master degree in architecture.
Throughout the years he has played in a wide array of bands and projects, but since 2002 he has focused on the electronic music he makes on his computer. Already he has an interesting discography behind him. The official debut album Tonad (NEON Gallery Records, 2004) is his biggest milestone so far. Besides his solo project Erik Levander sometimes finds time to play in the Swedish experimental impro-act Fria Konstellationen.
Many good names have been given to his music, such as "melodic glitch" and "screengazer" but maybe Erik's own humble suggestion "careful maximalism" is the best word to describe it!
