Philip called me up a day in September 2010. He was working on songs for the third The Mary Onettes album as far as I knew, so I was surprised to hear he had written two songs in Swedish that he wanted me to hear. He sent “Kristallen” and “Juni berättar” over … and I was instantly blown away of their verve and beauty! I immediately pleaded him to an album with Det Vackra Livet.
The coming two months Philip sent me one or two news songs every week, each one of stunning quality. The whole album was finished in less than eight weeks time and one has to wonder where the inspiration came from.
It turned out he had been going through his grandmother’s memoires over the summer and the little everyday stories had affected him deeply. He had also discovered the works of Swedish/Finnish poet Claes Andersson (now a member of parliament in Finland) and become inspired by his way of writing.
And somewhere there in the summer of 2010 – among poetry, memoires and sentimental flashbacks – Det Vackra Livet was born.
/Johan, Feb 2011