The new summery atmosphere of Fredrik's latest is just as affecting as before

Words like “gorgeous” or “hypnotic” are the commonly heard words when describing Fredrik. At least that’s what outlets like NPR and Pitchfork us to describe the Swedish ambient trio who recently released Flora, their third long player. But perhaps my favorite description of the band comes from Under The Radar which called Fredrik “the ambient super group Jose Gonzales forgot to join.” Perfect.

The trio has yet to truly land on American shores, but their latest should do the trick with a lighter mood that’s no less affecting than previous albums. Ola Lindefelt says the season in which the album was recorded made a huge impact but he’s glad for the change. What we’ve learned by now, however, is that it doesn’t matter where or when Fredrik chooses to record. We’ll be listening anyway.

SSv: There’s a shift with Flora from previous works–

Ola Lindefelt: Maybe you heard that we recorded the album during the summer, but that was the mindset. We’d never recorded anything with any warmth before. Sweden is wintry and chilly and mostly we’ve recorded in autumn or winter, so we just hung out in the garden place where we were at and it was this summery time. So I think that had an effect on how we put things together.

SSv: Do you remember that having an effect on the mood even in the studio itself?

Ola: Yes, totally. It was even in the way we talked about things. It sounds warmer to me in some way, too. We thought halfway through that it would be more of an upbeat thing, but when the mixes were finished it wasn’t as summery as we thought it would be. If it’s summer, it’s another kind of summer. [Laughs]

SSv: Did you try to warm it up with the production?

Ola: No, I don’t think so. I don’t think we’re very deliberate in that way. We’re not very technically deliberate. We just bounce a lot of ideas or images — like dream imagery or stuff we just come to think about — and then we just make that into music.

SSv: Making it in the summer or having that warmer sound, do you think that makes the music stand out from your contemporaries?

Ola: It’d be difficult for me to put into context in terms of contemporary music, but it does feel like a fresh start for us in some way. The first two albums were done with that wintry mood. I don’t know if that was conscious, but that’s what people describe them as — very dark, wintry, murky maybe. But do you mean other artists making music in the moment?

SSv: No you mentioned how it’s never that sunny or summery in Sweden for long, so I’m assuming that most of the music you’re surrounded by also sounds wintry as well.

Ola: Oh, yeah. For us, that was a new thing and it might be for others as well. We do have a decent four or five months of warm water, so it’s not that uncommon I guess. It was just different for us. We did have more of a positive feeling as well, but that was when we started out. In the end, I don’t know if that’s true. But it’s hard for us to put such descriptions on the stuff we make. We try to associate things and just approach our music very free.

SSv: You said you thought it would be summery and then it turned out not so much. Where were you fooled?

Ola: [Laughs] I don’t know the psychology. Maybe we weren’t as happy as we thought we were. [Laughs] Or maybe this is happiness for us. Maybe this is our flowery feeling.

SSv: So you can hear it even if others won’t pick up on it?

Ola: Yeah, but I’m really interested in hearing what other people say about our music rather than relying on what we think about it. I’m anxious to see what people make of this. Actually, there has been a bit of a divide. Some people say it’s really dark and cold and other people say it’s really warm.

SSv: When you make a record that you believe to be one way and then you hear others are interpreting it in another way, is that the beautiful part of music or is that frustrating that it’s not understood in the way that you believed it to be?

Ola: I find that’s the very interesting part of being an artist is being able to hear what people think and say. Of course, you hear from your friends, but now you can also hear what strangers think. I don’t find it frustrating. I just find it fun and interesting. I mean, I’m bad at reading reviews and I don’t do that, but I hear what people say in the interviews or try to listen when people are talking around us. It’s interesting.

SSv: So you don’t feel like the art that you create is fragile then?

Ola: Totally. I think one way or another, what we thought what we wanted to do will come out in one way or another. It doesn’t have to be our way. It’s just important that it communicates something. That’s the main thing for us.

SSv: That’s such an interesting concept, because I don’t know that I’ve heard an artist say that before — that it’s just important to communicate something even if it’s not what you intended?

Ola: Well, I think a lot of people think that the artist is some kind of sender of the message or something, but we don’t really believe that. I do think there’s something important going on when the artist creates something, but there’s also something important that happens when we’re exposed to something. I don’t think the artist is the best person to say, ‘Hey, this is what it is.’ It should be something that’s interactive and social. That’s the thought behind that.

SSv: I think some artists would disagree and say, ‘Because I’m the one who created it, I should have the say here.’

Ola: You do have that say. You can create what you want, but it’s just so important to be humble about what it turns out to be for other people. If I write a song and play it for you and you say, ‘Hey, it makes me think about this,’ who am I to tell you what you’re supposed to be thinking about when I play that song? [Laughs] That would be incredibly arrogant thing to do. Instead, you tell me what you are thinking about and I’ll tell you maybe what I was thinking when I wrote it and we can create something together between us. That will be a lot more interesting. That’s what should happen on a grander scale — not only with music but with art in general.

SSv: How do you encourage that interactivity with your own fans?

Ola: There’s so much going on nowadays that it’s just not that hard to do. You’re interacting all the time with people writing about music in one way or another. There’s so many formats, so it’s easier than ever to do that.

SSv: Were you always that humble about your work or were you more protective of your work in the beginning?

Ola: I think I was more particular about things when I first started and I also spent more time making things — making the music and getting the details right. Now if I have a certain feeling, I just make sure that comes through and not worry so much about the rest.