Astrid Swan rounds off a successful 2017 by releasing brand new song ‘Dreaming Is Dangerous’
Astrid Swan‘s latest album From the Bed and Beyond has been a substantial critical and commercial success. It’s been further enhanced by successful festival appearances at Flow, Sideways, Provinssi and Tallinn Music Week to name a few. In addition to festivals, a run of special shows has created a deep connection with audiences who have responded deeply to the album’s themes and powerful visual presentation.
Against this backdrop, we’re more than happy to reveal an unreleased track from the album, ‘Dreaming Is Dangerous’ – which drops via all digital services on the 20th of October.
“‘Dreaming is Dangerous’ was recorded for From the Bed and Beyond, but it was left out to make the album more succinct. Here it is now for your autumn evenings. It’s a song calling for a better treatment of yourself: take care, dream, live now, be kind to yourself and others –– do not mistake yourself for one moment for a stone, not even rose quartz. With this release, I’d like to say thanks for the year 2017, the amazing support and communication I’ve had with so many people about life and music. It has been a year of magic and a year of pain.” Astrid
Photograph by Tekla Vály
Some press reaction to From The Bed And Beyond:
Sylvi 4.5/5 “The songs shine a light on a strong fighting spirit and self-confidence.”
When You Motor Away “The emotions are raw and sincere. Fear, hope, loss, grief, hope, uncertainty and anger appear seemingly as three dimensional elements of the songs. But it is all beautifully rendered with nuanced performances from the players, sophisticated arrangements and production, and, most of all, Swan’s gorgeous vocals.”
In Between Songs “Musically and visually her work exudes a vulnerable and morbid romanticism. But Astrid Swan’s language is realistic and completely raw, almost brutal at times, as she tells her story of facing one’s own mortality and, ultimately, finding one’s own strength.”
Gold Flake Paint “Further proof, if ever it were needed, of the importance of music, both created and consumed, the new record from Astrid Swan is a strikingly personal piece of work armed with the ability to make an impact on the listener.”
Austin Town Hall “Astrid Swan has one of Finland’s most powerful voices.”
SWIT “Astrid Swan’s beautiful and intensely personal album From the Bed and Beyond.”
Ja Ja Ja Music “It will surely be an emotional album, that will leave a strong impression.”
Watch ‘A Long Time Running’ video:
Single cover art by Tekla Vály
‘Dreaming is Dangerous’
Astrid – vocals, piano,
Alina – drums
Johannes – saxophone, clarinet,
Mikael – acoustic guitar
Veli – bass
Again
I have to bury
Wishes upon regrets
All stillborn
Wrapped in plastic and dead
The drama unraveling
Leaves no trace on the surface
Unmoving like a gravestone
I could fool me too
A whole year of it
Took place
Only in my head
The horror is the disconnection
Between the inside and the outside
Dreaming is Dangerous
or is it me
mistaking myself for a stone?
Meanwhile,
face to face with time
I now have certainty
That had I broken through the threshold
The dreaming would have yielded
in living exactly
The thing deemed impossible
by my undisturbed
Uncertainty
It’s a self-made cemetery
embarrassing and secret
I am the stonemason
and the idiot brick
I carve me and I encrypt
Dreaming is dangerous
or is it me
mistaking myself for a stone
If I could offer a sacrifice
would it gnaw on the sadness
contently elucidating me
Would I be Phoenix-like
rising unafraid?
No more in a dream state
just me in the mirror
the same one that sings
Dreaming is dangerous
or is it me
mistaking myself for a stone