“People go into art for very different reasons,” says the Sweden-born, Montreal-based musician, Erika Angell. “Some people,” she scoffs at the imminent punchline, “are actually interested in earning money.”
We speak over the telephone about Angell’s life, and of her remarkable career — as a multi-linguistic Canadian transplant; as a frequent collaborator, notably with the likes of Patrick Watson, Liam O’Neill of SUUNS, and her husband, Simon Angell, of Thus Owls; and now, as an experimental electronic artist in her own right with a solo album forthcoming, entitled The Obsession with Her Voice. The recording carves out a daring and singular sound, and the contemporary vocalists that Angell aligns with most — Jenny Hval, Karin Dreijer, Scott Walker — are decidedly specialized.
Our conversation invariably heads straight for the heart of the matter: what art does, what art means, and what it means to be a true artist.
“Some people are interested in standing in the light and being adored,” says Angell. “I don’t want to criticize that. But it’s not what I’m doing with art. I like art that challenges me, when it makes me have new thoughts, and it makes me take a step forward in some new direction. It’s this spiritual travel for me, music. Whenever I try to do other things, it seems so meaningless.”
Angell arrived 12 years ago in Montreal from her native Sweden, not necessarily intending to settle down in the city. “It was more like an adventure,” she says, “to get to know what it’s like to live somewhere else.” But it’s clear that Angell has built a creative home here, rediscovering the most basic, fundamental form of music-making, using her voice as her primary instrument.
“This is one of my earliest memories, singing in nature,” Angell recalls. “My mom was a musician and a music teacher. And I was always a part of her choirs when I grew up. My mom was very invested in the community. There was always lots of music happening. It was mainly Swedish folk, or from a Classical tradition. But she also invited modern contemporary composers to write for our choir, so we did a lot of modern contemporary pieces, too.”
Angell’s distinctive vocal style indeed takes its inspiration both from traditional and more contemporary sources, with an especially European flair. “My first idol was Nina Hagen,” Angell reveals. “That was my first musical influence that I picked myself, out of the record collection at home. It was just so fascinating to me how she used her voice. I was three years old, and I listened over and over.”
That preoccupation with the theatrical spontaneity of performance would continue to guide Angell creatively and personally. “The feeling in the moment, when I’m singing in a particular way, is why we all exist,” Angell exclaims. “And we find it in all kinds of ways. But I’ve never found any place in life where I’m better than singing. That’s where I can access it and share it the most with other people. Being in the process of creating is a wonderful and extremely painful process, too. You doubt everything you do, and at the same time, you’re creating magically through that. At some point it just becomes fluid, as if you’re not aware of when it’s happening. It’s just happening.”
This groove is where artists strive to be. But it doesn’t come easily; it takes courage, practice, and complete dedication. “The focus that you can reach in the creative process is too good for human beings, somehow. When you can achieve that with an audience, it is so powerful. If you’re lucky, you’re able to touch people’s hearts, truly. It’s an enormous gift, and I’m extremely grateful for whenever that happens. I try to do that every time, always,” Angell muses.
After more than a decade in Montreal, Angell feels that she’s finally found her cultural footing. “I have more awareness of what I should be doing, and what I want to be doing, and why that’s important,” she says. “I feel that it kind of snuck up after awhile that I realized a lot of things in myself as a person. Questioning. To constantly feel like an outsider without even noticing that that’s happening. That just becomes your habitat.”
It took some time for Angell to navigate not one but two second languages, and the linguistic divide that stubbornly agitates this province. “Being in Quebec, it was shocking to me in the beginning that this was actually an issue,” she notes. “I’m so jealous of everyone who grew up speaking English and French. How could that not be seen as the most beautiful gift, to live in a place with access to that? I still don’t quite understand it.”
Nonetheless, Angell is here to stay, having become a Canadian citizen last April. She says that two things particularly touched her during the swearing-in ceremony. “The judge who spoke to us took one minute to think about all the people who have gone through a lot to even be here,” Angell recounts. “And second, she said ‘thank you for choosing our country.’ It just hit me that that had never happened before, that someone said, ‘thank you.’ That turned my perspective a lot.”
It’s our gain, and to that of our cultural fabric, that Angell and artists like her choose this city to call home. Because what they bring with them is more than just their bodies or their language. There is also an essential virtue to their stories. And Angell is not finished writing hers.
“What I’ve always been seeking, and what I love as an artist, is that there is some kind of truthfulness,” Angell confesses. “To be completely honest in front of other people. Which is so difficult because we’re constantly with all these masks in front of our faces. We’re asked to be a lot of things, too. And it’s really difficult to just stand straight up in front of a bunch of human beings and speak from your heart. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”◼︎
Erika Angell launches The Obsession With Her Voice 12 March 2024 at Fika(s) – Ausgang Plaza, 6524 Rue St-Hubert.
Cover image: Tim Georgeson
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