Bergendahl – named after Swedish artist Anna Bergendahl – has released her first EP, ‘Leafy Green’. Taking inspiration from her passions of Eurovision and life in her thirties, Bergendahl has put together a collection of exceptional songs that showcase her talent as both a singer and a songwriter.
As an independent artist, Bergendahl enjoys the freedom to “be unique and tell her own stories” and her EP does exactly that. From navigating grief to exploring the societal expectations of her age, Bergendahl spoke to Tea with G about what each of the songs represent.
“It’s very much my sound and the style I like to write and sing,” she says as we delve into the first song, ‘Living Well’. The song depicts the hollow sadness of the early stages of grief in beautiful imagery, the flowers to the earth decayed, the wind an icy swell. Written in response to the loss of a beloved pet, Bergendahl posted on her social media that the song was “a sad country song about grief, insomnia, pet loss and the Chelsea Flower Show’.
The second track on the album is ‘Thirty Affirmative’. “This song was born out of an interaction at a sushi restaurant,’ Bergendahl says, “I felt that my age had been assumed by the woman serving me to be much younger than I am.” Instead of the fleeting rush that an assumption of youth can sometimes garner, Bergendahl dives a little deeper into being confident and ‘affirmative’ in her age and how everyone, including that server, is getting “the best me”.
“I know a boy,” is the opening line of ‘Gatekeeper,’ the third song on the EP. “This song is about someone else’s trauma,” says Bergendahl as she discusses the subject of the track, “it’s about what they’ve overcome but how they still struggle to go back to their hometown.” The song poeticises kindness and Bergendahl’s desire to ‘let fire rain down on those that hate’.
Closing the EP with the fourth track, ‘Feathers,’ Bergendahl revisits the theme of grief. “If Living Well is the sad stage of grief,” she says as she identifies the differences between the two tracks, “then this is very much the acceptance.” ‘Feathers’ was a labour of love for Bergendahl, taking the longest to write out of all four tracks. “It was born out of the saying that if a Robin is found, a loved one is around,” she says as she shares the story behind the deeply personal track, written to process her grief from losing a friend to cancer.
Having spent many years in retail, Bergendahl always felt there was something missing. Despite global travel and success in her role, Bergendahl knew that her passions lay elsewhere. “I often wonder what songs I would have written,” she says as she talks about the years she spent without music, “but maybe that doesn’t matter.”
Named after the only Swedish artist not to make a Eurovision final – which is allegedly a very big deal in Sweden – Bergendahl also attributes her name to its meaning, mountains and valleys, and how it sounds like it could be a small town in Tennessee. “It amalgamates my two passions,” she says about her chosen name, “Eurovision and country music.”
Bergendahl has also recently taken part in the highly regarded songwriting weekend in Rena, Norway, where she was among others inspired by the Eurovision style.
‘Leafy Green’ is Bergendahl’s debut EP and is available to stream now, wherever you get your music. Keep up to date with her through her Linktree.
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