Áššogáttis/By the Embers

Sofia has been singing since she was eleven – songs in Sami but to music with influences of jazz, pop, ballad and folk song. She draws her inspiration from wide open spaces and people and the interaction in-between, as well as from the dance floor and the pulse of the city. For the past few years she has been one of the most exciting young performers in Sweden. She cut the critically acclaimed White/Ceaskat disk with a Sami record label a couple of years ago, and has won the Sami Grand Prix in Kautokeino, the Sami’s own song contest. She’s also done some acting on different occasions.

Sofia already has tours of China, the USA and Europe under her belt, and has been awarded prestigious scholarships: the 2006 Gevalia Prize, the 2007 Prince Eugene Culture Scholarship and the 2008 SKAP Scholarship.

For many years, Sofia has liked to sing with the Peter Tikkanen Trio, a trio that she hit it off with at their first rehearsal. Pianist Peter Tikkanen, bassist Tobias Helén and percussionist Johan Englund have now toured extensively with Sofia Jannok, and have now released their first CD, Áššogáttis, here on Caprice Records. The album and Sofia herself are the source of great curiosity in Sweden and abroad.

Sofia is happy with the Sami part of her life, but also enjoys being a modern urbanite. And this can be heard in the 11 tracks on Áššogáttis, which take us on a journey between pure mountainous expanses and smoky jazz joints. All in a musically sumptuous production by Henrik Edenhed, who’s also worked with such names as Oh Laura, Teddybears Sthlm, Robyn and Laleh. Sofia wrote most of the tracks on the album, but doesn’t shy away from borrowing songs that have meant something to her and interpreting them in her own way. Most of the songs have been recorded live in the studio in order to capture the intimacy of her music and the magic of the moment, as Sofia puts it.

See the video of the song “Irene” with Sofia Jannok