Laurel Music

Tobias Isaksson had been writing songs for ten years and for a few years his singer/songwriter project had been figuring in magazines such as Sound Affects and Sonic. But it was when Labrador presented him with Douglas Heart’s super vocalist Malin Dahlberg late in 2001 that his ship finally came in. She liked his sense for melodies and they were asked to record some songs for »The Sound Of Young Sweden, vol. 3«. Once their correspondence started a close relationship was rapidly developed and soon Laurel Music was a dynamic duo. The combination of his timeless qualities as a songwriter akin to Neil Young, Morrissey/Marr and Tim Hardin and her ethereal vocals inspired by soft emo pop like Geoff Farina, The Secret Stars and Ida made their musical collaboration quite rare. At first, when their rehearsal sessions took place in his living room, they often ended up giggling and listening to too many records. But as they entered the studio to record their debut album, they realised they needed a full band to complete the sound. Top drummer Max Sjöholm (Douglas Heart, Afraid Of Stairs) joined them as a permanent member and Tobias played just about every instrument he could get hold of. Finally some friends assisted with whatever the three weren’t able to do. To this day, the permanent members remain Tobias, Malin and Max, but on stage Laurel Music is a musical collective that can appear as anything from a duo to a sextet. In 2006, Tobias launched his next project, ultra summer-y pop group, Irene.