Her first record, Until Death Comes, was recorded at Stockholm's Atlantis Studios and co-produced with Jari Haapalainen of The Bear Quartet. The record was released in the EU in 2005 on The Concretes record label Licking Fingers, in the United States in 2006 on Secretly Canadian and in Australia in 2007 on Chapter Music. Hyvönen received the 2005 Stockholmspriset ("The Stockholm Prize") by the Swedish publication Nöjesguiden for her debut album.[1] Her first single, "I Drive My Friend", climbed the hit-list in Sweden for a few weeks.
Frida has been touring Scandinavia, Europe and the US with her piano since 2004. She also played in Shanghai. In the spring of 2006 she toured the United Kingdom with José González, and in the summer of 2006, she toured the US with fellow Swedish artist Jens Lekman. In the fall of 2005 Frida wrote music for dance performance PUDEL, by choreographer Dorte Olesen. She also performed the music live on stage. The music was recorded in 2006 and released in January 2007.
In the fall of 2007 Frida recorded a cover of the R.E.M. song "Everybody Hurts", released in digital form by Stereogum She also covered the song "Sista dan tillsammans" together with Mattias Alkberg on "Dubbel Trubbel", a tribute to Olle Adolphson.
Hyvönen's next album, "Silence is Wild", was released October 29, 2008 in Scandinavia and November 4, 2008 in North America and Australia.
She is also working on a collaboration with photographer Elin Berge, in a project that will be out in 2009.
Discography
Albums
2005 Until Death Comes
First studio album
Released: April 6, 2005
Label: Licking Fingers
Format: CD, LP, Digital download
2007 Frida Hyvönen Gives You:
Music from the Dance Performance PUDEL
Second studio album
Released: January 24, 2007
Label: Licking Fingers
Format: CD, LP, Digital download
2008 Silence Is Wild
Third studio album
Released: October 29, 2008
Label: Licking Fingers
Format: CD, LP, Digital download
2005: "I Drive My Friend" (single)
2008: "Traveling Companion" (single) (Marit Bergman featuring Frida Hyvönen)
References
Hopper, Jessica. "Frida Hyvonen unafraid of mixing music, feminism". Chicago Tribune March 9, 2007. Accessed August 12, 2007.
Loebenstein, Ghita. "Until Death Comes - Music - CD Reviews". The Age (Melbourne, Australia) March 30, 2007. Accessed August 12, 2007.
Reed, James. "An introduction to Nordic tracks – MFA to present a triple bill of Scandinavian rockers". Boston Globe February 25, 2007. Accessed August 12, 2007.
December
Frida Hyvönen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You come straight from the club
When you pic me up at 6 in the morning
You smell of champagne and cigarettes!
I put on stockings and a dark green dress
And We're off to the clinic
10 girls in a room one bed each
I wonder if I am the only one who feels
A nurse in the middle of the room
Informs us in a gentle Finnish accent
About the procedure
First they will sting us with the needle
Then we'll fall asleep
Then one by one they'll
Take us to the next room
Rid us of our little trouble
Our unwanted pregnancies!
And then we'll wake up
You are the only man in the room
You're by my side
When it's my turn to get injection
You are sent outside
- We've had aproblem with boyfriends
They often faint if they see blood,
The nurse explains
Just a few moments later I am sleeping
And if they exist the angels are weeping
And when I wake up,
You get me a coffee
And a sandwich
And a kiss in wich
I can taste the last breath of our love
And I can taste you haven't slept for centuries
And it's time to walk into
Our own separate winters
Before we leave
The nurse takes us aside
And she tells the two of us
To take care of each other
I'm not sure if I remember this right
But I think that's where we start to giggle
A relief in the grief
The lyrics of "December" by Frida Hyvönen describe a difficult, personal experience that the singer undergoes with her partner. The song starts by describing how the partner had been out partying and comes to pick the singer up in the morning. From here, they go to a clinic where the singer has an abortion, and her partner is there to support her. The lyrics are very descriptive about the procedure at the clinic, with mentions of the needle and the gentle Finnish accent of the nurse. The singer then contrasts this with the tender love and care her partner provides once she wakes up from the procedure. The final lines of the song indicate that the partner's support has created a sense of relief amid the grief and trauma of the experience.
Throughout the song, there is a strong focus on the physical and emotional sensations experienced by the singer. The smell of the partner's champagne and cigarettes, the sting of the needle, and the taste of the partner's kiss are all evocatively described. However, the song also touches on broader themes of social stigma, as the nurse warns the couple about the risk of boyfriends fainting at the sight of blood. Overall,"December" is an emotional and powerful reflection on a difficult experience that many people may be able to relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh you have played records all night long
You stayed out all night partying and listening to music.
You come straight from the club
You arrived to pick me up directly from the club.
When you pic me up at 6 in the morning
You arrived to pick me up very early in the morning.
You smell of champagne and cigarettes!
You smell like you have been drinking champagne and smoking cigarettes.
I put on stockings and a dark green dress
I got dressed in stockings and a dark green dress.
And We're off to the clinic
We are going to the clinic.
10 girls in a room one bed each
There are ten other girls in the room, each with their own bed.
I wonder if I am the only one who feels
I am questioning whether or not I am the only person feeling a certain way.
Like everyone's staring at me
I feel like everyone is staring at me.
A nurse in the middle of the room
There is a nurse standing in the center of the room.
Informs us in a gentle Finnish accent
The nurse speaks to us in a soft and kind Finnish accent.
About the procedure
The nurse tells us about the procedure we are about to undergo.
First they will sting us with the needle
We will be injected with something that will make us fall asleep.
Then we'll fall asleep
We will become unconscious.
Then one by one they'll
They will then take each of us one by one.
Take us to the next room
We will be taken to another room for the procedure.
Rid us of our little trouble
The procedure will remove our unwanted pregnancies.
Our unwanted pregnancies!
We are in the clinic to terminate our pregnancies that we do not want.
And then we'll wake up
We will wake up from the procedure.
You are the only man in the room
You are the only man present at the time.
You're by my side
You are accompanying me.
When it's my turn to get injection
When it is my turn to receive the injection.
You are sent outside
You are asked to leave the room.
- We've had aproblem with boyfriends
The nurse informs you that boyfriends often faint at the sight of blood.
They often faint if they see blood,
Boyfriends tend to lose consciousness upon seeing blood.
Just a few moments later I am sleeping
Shortly after, I lose consciousness and fall asleep.
And if they exist the angels are weeping
The situation is so sad that even angels would cry.
And when I wake up,
When I regain consciousness.
You get me a coffee
You bring me a cup of coffee.
And a sandwich
You also bring me a sandwich.
And a kiss in wich
You give me a kiss, where I can sense the desperation and finality because our love has ended.
I can taste the last breath of our love
Our love is dying and its last breath can be felt.
And I can taste you haven't slept for centuries
I can sense how tired you are as you have probably not slept for several days.
And it's time to walk into
It is time to move forward.
Our own separate winters
We are heading towards our own individual phases of life.
Before we leave
Before saying goodbye.
The nurse takes us aside
The nurse pulls us aside and speaks to us privately.
And she tells the two of us
She addresses the both of us.
To take care of each other
She advises us to look out for one another.
I'm not sure if I remember this right
I am not entirely certain if I recall this correctly.
But I think that's where we start to giggle
That may have been the moment when we began to giggle, perhaps out of relief.
A relief in the grief
There was a sense of relief amidst the sadness we were feeling.
Contributed by Logan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.