Photograhpy: John Strandh / johnstrandh

Words: Guilherme Ferrari / gferrari____

Following the cancellation of her headline tour due to COVID-19, Swedish multimedia artist ionnalee / ionnalee will present her latest live digital installation KONSERT tonight September 2 at 7pm CEST on her YouTube channel. In the spirit of her previous digital performances IN CONCERT and CONCERT IN BLUE, she will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of her career live from Sweden, featuring a number of surprise guests and collaborators.

KONSERT came out of the compilation album KRONOLOGI, launched this spring as in reaction to the cancellation of her world tour. Produced, mixed and mastered by ionnalee in real time while in quarantine, the playlist offered a weekly release of demos, live takes, alternative versions and previously unreleased material, giving her fans some isolation comfort for 12 weeks. French Fries had the chance to catch up with ionnalee about the process behind her new project and her experience performing live.

After having your tour cancelled, your new project KRONOLOGI just came out, including unreleased songs. How was putting together the material for the album?

It was a fun process to create KRONOLOGI, but being independent and producing my own shows, the tour cancellation was a major creative and financial set back. I got to think on my feet, redirect and create something else instead was healthy. You bump into trouble and push through it and something beautiful comes out of it. Hopefully it brought some joy to some people’s lives in lockdown. That was at least my intention. KRONOLOGI is based on music I made but never finished, that I now completed in real time. My challenge was to create a cohesive listen out of these selected songs in the order that they were written. Each week the next song – for 12 weeks. and the watercolour covers I painted on top of that was… intense, but fun. I would not have been able to do this project last year, but I got a feeling.

Can you tell us how you came up with the name KRONOLOGI?

Kronologi is chronology in Swedish. The title is a reference to in what order the songs are written, and the evolution of my 10 years of audiovisuals this year.

You produced and released one track a week, was that a way of coping with isolation?

Yes, I was mid production of my world tour and I had worked hard to put it together, so it was a way of coping with isolation and to create a substitute for those who didn’t get to see the shows of the planned tour, but it was also a way for me to endure not being able to complete the tour. It was like you spent half a year on a painting and then the exhibit hall burnt down pre-opening with the painting in it. The thing is, each piece has it’s moment. So I wouldn’t redo that show some other time, it was meant for this year alone. So it’s on to the next.

How was the process behind the production during quarantine?

It started out light and gradually grew thicker, but it never got out of hand as many of my productions tend to do work wise.

What is your working relationship with Barbelle like after collaborating for so many years?

We are family and we’ve known each other for 20 years. Working together is never less exciting cause we have similar brains, skills, and values. We feed off of each other and it’s a valuable exchange. The collaboration is constant but takes different forms depending on the idea.

Lyrically, what's your favorite song on the album?

I think the deadlock. It was written for ‘kin’ but another song (sever) took its place. It’s a sad poem about locked into and living in something vivid and important, but yet completely invisible to most of the outside world.

How performing live shaped your relationship with music, and how was visioning and giving life to KONSERT?

Live has always been my thing, cause I am kind of from a different age when it comes to how I exercise music. From a classical and analogue place. Still with iamamiwhoami we played very little live, cause it was difficult to translate this audiovisual project in a way that felt right. It was with Röyksopp that I felt like I started to find something more confident in myself and I took that and evolved on that for my solo tours. Now I’m just in my element, and maybe it comes through in KONSERT. This process I am in is thrilling.

What do you hope your fans will take from this experience?

I want them to feel connected.  

How was curating the guests and collaborators for the concert?

It is fun. I’m in mid production now and trying to do my body of work justice and enjoy the ride as I am working the wheel.

And what’s in store for you after KONSERT?

Rest. Then I’ll see where I land after this. These are strange times to create in.