'Long Gone Girl' Review: Freja The Dragon's debut EP is a foggy affair with her personal demons
Freja The Dragon has announced her debut EP 'Long Gone Girl', scheduled to release on May 8 on her label INGRID. Freja The Dragon is the moniker of Freja Drakenberg's alter ego.
The Stockholm-born singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist spent most of her time creating music while she was growing up and has now stepped into the fore as a promising artiste.
After her graduation at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 2016, Drakenberg began assisting Björn Yttling in the studio, which led her to join Yttling's pop-rock band Peter Bjorn and John as percussionist, guitarist and vocalist on their 'Breaking Point' world tour.
Yttling's production and songwriting credits also include Lykke Li and Primal Scream. When Drakenberg came home from the tour, she and Yttling started experimenting in his INGRID studio which would see the foundation of Freja The Dragon.
The duo wrote, produced and arranged most of the music completely isolated from anyone else. Recordings have spanned over a year and also took place at the legendary Atlantis studio in Stockholm.
A sense of ethereal sadness begins to shadow the sound of the new six-track EP at first listen, revealing a deep narration in indie music.
It can often be an unfair representation to box an artiste into a certain genre or compare them to other artistes, and Freja The Dragon's music certainly comes off notably unique in its own right.
However, for those who need the association for a clearer understanding, 'Long Gone Girl' comes off as a distant relative to your Florence + The Machine or Freya Ridings songs.
'Long Gone Girl', the EP's first and title track, shares Drakenberg's personal humanity, her current stance in the universe with dwindling hope of a successful relationship between a "Long gone gone boy" and "Long gone gone girl".
A roomy fill on the drums opens the track and Drakenberg sings, "I know you're looking at me. Don't wanna know what you see. I don't wanna know if you mean it. I don't wanna know if you feel it. Honestly." The song was co-written with Yttling and Joakim Berg from Kent and the singer released the song in January.
The singer turns to introspection on 'Cut Me Loose', pointing a finger at "trouble" which left her "walking on broken limbs". The song juxtaposes its message of melancholy with an organically-toned hip-hop beat and mildly amiable sound, and asks, "Trouble won't you cut me loose now?" in the chorus.
'Give It All Up' has Drakenberg cutting herself loose of her gathered emotions after "Dancing with the demons in your mind".
"Give it all up for no reason, up for the river in your eyes. Give it all up for the sadness, up for a last goodbye. Give it all up for a minute, give it all up but why. Give it all up, but why" she sings in misty vocals as if unknowing where the song will lead the singer herself.
The song is as looming as it is beautiful and relates as a bittersweet diary entry to the affair of confusion and the fear of letting others know the depth of your mind.
The debut single, 'Tell Me I'm Wrong', was released in February 2019 and was followed by 'Give It All Up'. The remarkable new single 'Give You All My Love' also features on the 'Long Gone Girl' EP.
The song was written with Yttling and produced by Freja and was selected by Northwell Health in early April 2020 for their TV Ad campaign to honor the healthcare workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle — watch it here.
'Long Gone Girl' comes highly recommended for those who like to take a step back from their sadness and question its meanings without the pressures of a solution. The score is fresh, clear in recording quality and Freja The Dragon's vocals are both beguiling and comfort in darker lyrical content.