Swan/Koistinen EP is an art pop symphony for two voices. The EP depicts life with chronic, incurable illness, and brings sick women’s experiences close to the listener through music.
The project unites two artists’ voices for a moment celebrating the importance of co-survivors (or thrivers/metavivors) and the power of sharing with others in similar situations. The songs on the EP deal with issues that arise when living as a sick woman. Life continues but everything has changed. The music brings up fragility, sadness over loss, and the elated giddiness of living. It also discusses embodiment, becoming a subject of medicine and argues for the importance of listening to marginalised, crip and chronic people’s voices.
The songs, co-composed by Astrid Swan and Stina Koistinen, recorded and produced by Swan, are made of hospital atmosphere, human voice, electronics, piano and Canadian pop visionary Owen Pallett’s string arrangements (Arcade Fire, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Charlotte Gainsbourg).
Swan/Koistinen EP Film by Tekla Vály
Some reaction to the EP
“…it’s four songs of these two women putting that experience on the table for all to see.” ATH
“But what you’re left with is the singing. Music overcomes all obstacles” Rosvot
“…a disorienting representation of the mental space between hopeful denial and crushing reality.” Indie 30
“They are voices from the dark, from the life with the ubiquitous fear that sounds in songs like ‘Diagnosis’ ” Nordische Musik
“Oh these clever Finns” God Is In The TV
“Seeking a power to gain from sharing the experience with others, Swan/Koistinen’s EP is subtle, cerebral and cathartic to this listener” Nordic Spotlight
“Yet, it is through the strength of the duo that the listener is led forward to a place of light and life. It is exactly here, in the broad, blinding daylight of this metaphysical clearing, where Swan and Koistinen connect so strongly and where their voices can be heard the loudest.” Monolith Cocktail
“… ryömimään ihon alle, mutta todellinen yhteistyön riemuvoitto on mielestäni Hospital. Raastavaa kauneutta, huoneiden kulmiin saostuvaa pelkoa sekä suoranaista ahdistusta. Tuon kaiken alla virtaa mielestäni vielä jotain muutakin, jotain joka jättää kysymykset avoimiksi.”Desibeli
“Tässä on kyse elämää suuremmasta taiteesta: Sävellys, tarina ja tulkinta ovat niin vakuuttavia, että maailman arvostetuimpiin jousisovittajiin kuuluvalla Owen Pallettillakin on suuri kunnia olla koko Swan/Koistinen-ep:llä mukana. Pallettin hento sivellin taustalla vain vahvistaa Swanin ja Koistisen erinomaisuutta..” Päivän Biisit “The final song “Singing” is a powerfully moving, uplifting embrace of that survival, and of life, and leaves me in tears of both sorrow and joy.” SWIT
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