We met for the first time in an attic in Östermalmshallen. Preparations were in full swing for her debut at the Melodifestivalen. Even if she did not win, it became clear that a new star lit up in the artist sky. The following year she became Loreen with the whole of Europe and has since appeared all over the world. Now it’s time for new music.
TEXT: Lina Bielsten | PHOTO: Jimmy Hansen
When the magazine goes to press, Loreen has just stepped in as one of the participants in the music program Så Mycket Bättre on TV4. Loreen has been asked to participate before, but now the timing felt right. What she is most looking forward to is the opportunity to interpret other artists’ songs by finding the message in the lyrics from a different perspective and conveying it in her own version. This year’s edition of the popular program doesn’t have a fixed number of participants and the artists do not get “their own day” as before. Instead, the line-up changes during the program and it is a secret which artist should interpret his colleague before the performance, which has gone home with the Swedish TV viewers. The songs’ quick placement on the charts on Spotify also speaks its clear language. At the time of writing, only one of Loreen’s interpretations has been shown, but at the editorial office we heard the three songs in advance and we can not wait for others to take part in the music.
In Loreen’s premiere episode, we see her slip into a Mustang on the Gotland farm Grå Gåsen where other artists have gathered and Markus Krunegård exclaims: “No, but now there will be a real fucking celebrity”. Loreen laughs when she hears his comment. She has a great interest in cars, engines and everything that goes fast, so what’s better way than to make a jump start in the program. She shows up just in time for dessert to deliver her first appearance and tells that she will interpret Eldkvarn’s “Alice”. The songwriter Plura can’t hide his surprise. He explains that it is difficult to see Loreen interpret a song that is very “singer-songwriter”. After her slightly magical and enchanting interpretation, there was a little different sound in the bark. “What an awesome version, I just sat and gaped,” says Plura.
When Loreen sits down at the dinner table in the safe constellation of artists who snuggle together, it is clear that her presence creates a new dynamic in the group. Not because she behaves like a star, but rather how the other participants look at her, that now something has changed. Helen Sjöholm puts the words to the feeling.
– “Here Loreen steps in as a force of nature”.
A STAR IS BORN
We are backing the band to 2010. Saluhallen’s magazine has installed its small editorial office in the hall’s attic. The office is surrounded by studios where music is produced both day and night. Songwriters and artists pass by on their way to recordings, they chat and joke in the kitchen and sometimes everyone gathers in the living room to unwind. If you are lucky, there will also be spontaneous singing and mini-concerts in a wonderful “melting pot” of personalities and musical styles.
One day in the office, I am deeply engrossed in a text when I suddenly hear opera singing in the corridor. It is a girl who sings in high, pure tones and with a power that I have not experienced before. I check out my workplace and see Loreen. She will participate for the first time in the Melodifestivalen and the rehearsals are in full swing. During this time she also records songs for an album, so we run at each other look as close. After a few months, we start talking about that Loreen should appear in one of the magazine’s articles about new talent. Just in time for us to conduct the interview, her Melodifestival debut has already been completed. Although she did not win with the popular song My Heart Is Refusing Me, it was obvious that a new star lit up in the artist sky.
“It was opera that subconsciously healed my voice and when I started singing opera it was like I found home”
Walking around and singing in corridors still makes Loreen. She likes acoustics. It is also very good to sing in other rooms, she realized already as a child.
– I could lock myself in the bathroom for two to three hours, turn off the light and just practice my high notes inside. It was great acoustics. But it may not have been as appreciated by our neighbors, she laughs.
LOREEN
Name: Lorine Zineb Noka “Loreen” Talhaoui
Born: October 16, 1983
Current: Among other things as a participant in the TV program Så Mycket Bättre 2020, as an actress in the Netflix production of Vinterviken and until the spring of 2021 with newly written music at Universal Music.
In the picture above, Loreen is sitting at the newly opened restaurant Gioia in Stockholm.
In one of our conversations about musical role models, she mentions the opera singer Maria Callas, who with her broad repertoire is a source of inspiration.
– Callas sang a lot of Giacomo Puccini and his pieces are fantastic, especially in the way they are structured. It’s almost like pop music.
– “Opera is the right way to sing”, I would say. It was opera that subconsciously healed my voice. I was so much up in my head, purely vocally, and when I started singing opera, it was like I found home. But no one taught me, I listened and figured it out myself. I’ve always been like that since I was a child.
She hasn’t received any interest in music from her parents. Loreen found it on her own through her curiosity and she describes herself a bit as “nerdy” when it comes to sound.
– I’m pretty good at hearing, for example, if someone is not breathing properly when they sing or why it may sound congested. When I listened to different opera singers and also saw them live, I realized that they all sang without a microphone. And even though I was sitting high up there, it still sounded so good. I wanted to find the same strength they had.
How do you work with your voice yourself?
– It’s a lot about breathing and letting go of control. To find contact with oneself. Enter a room, turn off the light or close your eyes, feel what happens when you sing and how it vibrates in your body. There will be a certain type of meditation. If I am not present and don’t have full focus, then I can’t sing. It’s going to be a disaster.
– I taught myself by listening every day to what the opera singers did with their vocals, how it vibrated in a way I couldn’t do. Then I shut myself in and practiced for a long time on all my sounds. And I noticed what power I could get in the end.
THE TIME AFTER EUPHORIA
A few months after our very first interview, Loreen took not only Sweden but the whole of Europe by storm. In a stripped-down and unique number that raised her voting capacity, she beat out all opposition. Although she was pre-tipped, Loreen explains how she decided early on not to put energy into her surroundings, other people’s performances or what the media wrote. Instead, she chose to focus on the song, the dance and being in the present. With the results in hand, it turned out to be a concept of success. Loreen’s “Euphoria” was the most played Swedish song on Spotify in 2012 and that year’s best-selling song in Sweden. To date, it has over 150 million streams. After the internationally acclaimed victory in the Eurovision Song Contest, she has made several appearances in various festivals and television programs in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Since the win, you have performed in over twenty countries, produced music and worked on change-projects. What experiences do you carry with you so far?
– My biggest lesson is the importance of integrity and self-esteem.
– Everything went very fast with Euphoria 2012. I met many people that I got the chance to work with, which I really appreciate. But there were also different desires and I sometimes had a hard time finding myself in the middle of it all. It became increasingly clear that I had to hold fast to my integrity. I already knew then who I was and what visions I had.
– That I had the clear picture was also absolutely crucial to emerge. I was forced to become much stronger in my opinions and fight for my own ideas. To mark what I want and that I know where I am going. As a woman and second-generation immigrant, it is extra important to me.
– Even though it was sometimes uncomfortable with people pulling at me all the time, it has been an educational journey to go through all these challenges. It has made me a stronger person and I am grateful for that. No one can shake me.
Another experience Loreen carries with her is the gratitude for having good people around her, not least when there are storms around.
– There is a downside to success. It is easy to become dependent on the constant confirmation of others, when you feel that the ego is beginning to grow and that you are losing your inner peace. I experienced all that, I have had a big ego.
– Luckily, I was in a very shallow place when it was most chaotic. Everyone in my team also has the same visions and values as me, which is a necessity if you are to create something good together. My oldest friends, with whom I talk a lot, do not work in the music business at all. It’s almost an advantage that they don’t.
Is there a place in the world where you thrive best?
– Yes, I have certain places that I call my sanctuaries where I gather strength, connected to myself and my job. I am usually drawn to the mountains or other sparsely populated places. For example, Iceland and northern Norway are such sanctuaries. I have to travel there at least once a year to feel balanced and I probably feel a special affiliation with that environment. My family comes from the Atlas Mountains, where I have also been and thrive very well, if it is not too hot of course.
Through her philanthropic work, Loreen has met many people she looks up to, but there is one special encounter that stands out; when she got to sit down and talk to the education activist and peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai in Sweden.
– The whole experience became a bit of a vacuum. There I sit with a girl who has gone through something extremely traumatic, but managed to take this heavy and horrible experience and turn it into a movement. She has changed the situation for many women who are going through the same thing. What fascinated me most was that a girl much younger than me created this huge change all over the world. And she’s just one person. Then I felt what strength it gave me and that I was once again reminded of the power that a single individual has if you believe in something. You can really make a difference if you give a damn about it.
“Throughout my upbringing, I felt an exclusion. A feeling of being different. It is painful to compromise with yourself when you know deep down what you need. It was when I stopped fighting against myself that I began to own who I really am.”
– I look up to people who lack the conditions we have and can still create a world movement, it founds me and makes me take greater responsibility. The meeting with Malala was therefore strong for me. I realized that I can learn a lot from her through the responsibility she took for herself and other people and how she handled her own fears. Then I realize I have no excuses. If she can do it, I should also be able to do what I want to do.
When Loreen is to describe a musical experience that touched her extra much, she chooses a performance in Berlin in 2013. It was on New Year’s Eve and the place was the Brandenburg Gate. The famous and beautiful gate of honor, crowned by the triumphant Quadriga sculpture, is considered one of Europe’s most famous landmarks.
– I stood in front of a million people in the audience at this place and got to feel the fantastic community that was created when everyone sang Euphoria acapella. It was powerful.
You are perceived to be a strong person and dare to say what you think. Has it always been so?
– It is one of the biggest fights I have had since I started. Both then and now, I experience that many find it difficult for women who are strong. Unfortunately, the result is that we subconsciously adapt. We know that otherwise it is difficult to get through what you want if you take a seat or that you become less popular and then all of a sudden it is about a kind of survival. You back off in your energy and try to be the person you are expected to be. For example, if someone comments that you should be “more feminine” by toning down certain aspects of yourself. But who decides what is feminine?
“This spring I will release new music and this time with Swedish lyrics.”
You get to meet yourself as a young person, what advice would you give yourself?
– I always doubted myself and compromised a lot. If I had the chance to go back, I would say, “Trust your intuition more and do not question yourself. Do not let others influence you, you have such a damn check. Your own path is right ”.
– In addition, I would advise you to only make decisions that are based on my feelings – no matter how skewed it feels or may look in the context. And maybe even say that “don’t be so hard on yourself. In fact, it’s okay to fail. It is the only way to succeed and get better ”.
In addition to your participation in Så Mycket Bättre, what’s on the horizon?
– This winter, the SMB interpretations will be released, but they are other artists’ material. However, in 2021, starting from the spring onwards, I will release my own music at Universal Music and this time with Swedish lyrics.
– I have previously expressed myself in English and it has felt natural as I have traveled around a lot. But I have always been curious about singing in Swedish, even if it has not been so. With the isolation we are now going through, I saw an excellent opportunity to explore a new side of myself. Singing in Swedish became more intimate, I’m surprised it felt that way. That’s why I have chosen not to do English translations of my songs.
“My goal with everything I create myself and with my team is to be inclusive.”
In all projects, including music, there is a clear common thread in Loreen’s creation, which is to be inclusive. She describes the work over the past two to three years as a search process. A personal development.
– I wanted to understand myself in the creative and where does this need to want to influence come from. Then I had to go back to where I come from and look at my parents, who in their own way are activists and went against the flow. They wanted to create a change in the world around them.
– In my creation, I want to build bridges between people in general, between different cultures and traditions, and with women as senders. That we learn from each other and to create an understanding of differences, to also allow ourselves to see the power in differences.
– With my origins, I can be a credible “ambassador” for inclusion as a message. I already have the Swedish, Moroccan and Berber in my life. I understand exclusion and I think I can mediate between different worlds.
We will also see you in movie?
– Yes exactly, I was asked to be part of the remake of the film Vinterviken. They changed the script from the original version so I play the role of a Moroccan mother to the guy in the movie. Directed by Top Dog director Alexis Almström (TV series based on Jens Lapidus’ trilogy, editor’s note). The chance to do something different was the reason why I said yes.
– Especially with my background as a Swedish-born with Berber roots. I am a second generation immigrant and come from a family of survivors, so I want to emphasize the importance of diversity. It went in line with everything else I do at the moment.
However, there are several commercial projects that Loreen declined.
– I am very picky about what I stand behind. I want to participate in things that have a real impact. I believe in karma and that it will return.
“My mother is my everyday hero. She has made sure that I can have a completely different life and saved me from a life of oppression.”
How do you find inspiration and what gives you energy?
– I get energy from meetings, from people who have their stories and share them. It’s inspiring. If, on the other hand, I have had too much to do and feel that now I need to get energy, then I would say that nature is the best source of power. It is a whole energy field. No other place can give the same feeling as when you stand and look out over the sea with only water in front of you. In my work I am surrounded by a lot of people and then I have to go alone, which I often do. I go to Gotland or to different nature areas. Then I have with my dog. Animals and nature in solitude are crucial to me. If I ignored it, I would not be able to do what I do.
– My judgment deteriorates if I don’t take these breaks, it is as important as eating.
– It is probably my best advice: “if you have lost energy, go out into nature”.
You get to spend a day with anyone, who do you choose and why?
– My great-grandmother. We have never met but I have heard so much about her. “Her blood runs through my vains” and she had a fascinating life story, which I have been told.
In short, my great-grandmother lost her beloved husband in the war. When the family tried to marry her off and secure her continued livelihood, she chose to flee by dressing up and hiking with her children for several days over the mountains to another village. There she got a refuge, but had to continue living dressed as a man. She opened a small kiosk and supported her family. Until the day she died, she dressed like a man.
– In our world, we talk about feminism and the right as a woman to express oneself, but here it was about putting life at stake. Therefore, I would choose to spend a day with those in my family who are no longer alive and hear these stories.
When we talk about heroic efforts, we both believe that the media tends to focus too much on famous people and to praise mainly their actions. Loreen explains that she sees her public role as a platform for various messages, but that the real heroes are the ones who are rarely seen on the ballots.
– The real heroes create a change in the quiet and risk their lives for what they believe in. My great-grandmother was one of them, she says.
Loreen herself is often described as mysterious, as if she were from another world. Personally, I would say the opposite, that Loreen is just out of this world and confidently grounded in her belief that we all have a place here. She has strong integrity. She has amazing energy. Yes, she is a force of nature. Above all, she stands with both feet on the ground, although it can be felt that you almost take off from the ground in her company and it is fantastic to experience in these times.
LOREEN ABOUT
When I was little I wanted to be: Freedom fighter. An activist like my parents, I wanted to follow their footsteps!
My most distinctive trait: Passionate / temperamental
My biggest weakness: Love
If I got more time I would like to learn: Diplomacy and psychology (Human and our inner-self)
Hidden talent: I ride motocross. I have a general love for engines, vehicles and things that go fast!
How a close friend would describe me in three words: Loyal, determined and curious (“and a work ant”, says a friend of Loreen who has known her for a long time and hears our conversation)
My biggest extravagance: Everything that cares on my body. I treat myself to a lot of massages and retreats or spas. And I am also careful about what I have on my body or stuff in me.
Favorite food: Ethiopian food is magically good. I also like Swedish home cooking. I love meatballs with lingonberry jam and boiled potatoes. And dumplings (kroppkakor) with melted butter. The first time I ate dumplings was actually in Östermalmshallen.
My biggest load (food): I’m crazy about whipped cream.
Parade dish: I love food, but I don’t think cooking is great fun. I like to fix other things around. But if I had to cook something, it’s Spaghetti Bolognese.
I do this when no one is watching: Crying
One word I use too often: Like (liksom)
A favorite expression or motto: “Live your truth”, that it is, don’t search outside yourself to get confirmation but go your own way. Then I don’t believe in individualism, egoism or segregation. I usually say that “there is no separation”, we all belong together. I believe in a collective influence and a universal responsibility.
A positive insight last year: That we are forced into a time of self-reflection and evaluate our lives. It is a chance to bring out negative things or behaviors and realize what is valuable.
Here I am happiest: I am most harmonious in myself and balanced when I do what I am meant to do. In that “space” when you are completely in yourself as a creator, in the very creative process. There I feel in sync with myself and everything around. It becomes a bit of an out-of-body experience and I am disconnected from energies outside. It’s something very powerful. When I listen to music or when I sing, I end up there, in that place.
My everyday hero: My mother. She has made sure that I can have a completely different life and saved me from a life of oppression. I could not have done what I do today without her. She has really paved the way for women in my life, broken certain patterns that have been “inherited” and passed it on! My mother has enabled a new era in my family!
Young talent that I admire a lot: 12-year-old gospel singer Keedron Bryant. He did an acapella song, “I Just Wanna Live”, in connection with the shooting of George Scott in the USA and it went viral. His mother wrote the lyrics and then they added a beat to his amazing voice… that song went on repeat. That was the only thing I listened to! There are several younger people that I admire and they give me hope for the future.
One superpower I would like: Fly. To get a bird’s eye view of reality and freedom. Preferably in high speed, haha.
Charity project: I have been involved in several organizations, including Civil Right Defenders. I have some heart issues and things I am passionate about, especially projects that concern education in vulnerable parts of the world and to strengthen people. Helping people help themselves. Create pride and love in them. Not that we should step in and control things, they should be allowed to be their own. Right now me and my team are looking at what I can get involved in and larger projects that we want to do, so it is an ongoing work, you could say.
• Source/Original interview: https://issuu.com/lina_bielsten/docs/ostermalmssaluhall_magasin_no2_2020/s/11540309
• Full magazine: https://issuu.com/lina_bielsten/docs/ostermalmssaluhall_magasin_no2_2020
• Photoshoot: http://gallery.lovely-loreen.com/thumbnails.php?album=686
• Translation: via Google Translate, the translation may not be completely accurate
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