| by David Levine |
When I first met
Sophie Zelmani I wondered how this little slip of a girl could hold a crowd in NYC. She is maybe five feet with shoulder length brown hair and piercing green eyes that are edged with dark eyeliner. Waifish definitely describes Sophie Zelmani. When I replayed the tape of our interview I had a hard time hearing her voice she spoke so quietly.
I asked Sophie if she ever writes in Swedish and she said she never has. She only writes in English and it shows. When you listen to these songs you think she's American and probably from the south. Listen to her on A Thousand Times [213k .wav | 213k .au] or Stand By [255k .wav | 255k .au] which sounds alot like a Neil Young song, the harmonica and the quiet background vocals. There are other songs that are good but I only have the three song E.P. Off the cassette I liked I'd Be Broken and So Good but you'll have to buy the disc to hear those because I can't digitize them for you off cassette. If you like Swedish women singing folk rock you'll love Sophie Zelmani. Okay forget that, you don't even have to like Swedish women but if you like simple earnest songs sung from the heart you might want to check out Sophie. |
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I went to see her play at the Mercury Lounge and I have to admit I was worried for her. She seemed small and nervous up there and her command of English is only Okay. Once she started singing though I couldn't take my eyes off her, she has a quiet intensity and a deep connection to her music. Her band was excellent and both guitarists played acoustics. Most of her songs are about love or lost love and when I asked her if she was in love she replied, " I'm always in love." She writes very simply and the arrangements by Lars Halapi pay tribute to the likes of Van Morrison (one of her favorites) and Neil Young. Sophie writes good repetitive hooks for her choruses and they hang around in your head. Her lyrics are so honest that you can forgive the total lack of guile, or rather admire the total lack of guile. Simply repeat these words- It's Always You [
Zelmani grew up a tomboy outside of Stockholm playing soccer and other sports but told me she quit because, "My legs were getting too big." She said she wrote songs pretty much in a vacuum. She didn't listen to American music, didn't have records. I asked her if she had heard of the record Nashville Skyline by Dylan or the song from it, Lay Lady Lay and she said no. Obviously Lars Halapi her producer/arranger had because the strains of the pedal steel were very reminiscent. Not that there's anything wrong with that.