It’s time to give a warm welcome to our maestro from Sweden, who, through his project called Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends, has managed to captivate all of our souls for several years already. For all of us, for whom he has become one of the key persons to whom we dedicate our lives and hearts, he is much more than just another musician; it would be more accurate to say that he is an artist and creator of unique sound sanctuaries, of those magic and permanent sound worlds which settle inside of us forever. If you are one of those people who have been left speechless after listening to the mystic atmosphere of such songs like “Happy People Won’t Hear”, enchanted by the gentleness of “Your Love”, or carried away in the atmosphere of memories created in the films “Vagnar Av Guld” and “The Sparrow”, then you know the real secret that is hiding behind his works. On May 15th, he treated us to his new musical piece of art entitled “The Hag.” It’s the definition of fire, and I think that there’s a lot to discuss regarding the song.

Right from the beginning, one is introduced to a lively melody that makes you feel uplifted within moments. Nevertheless, this piece of music does not startle you with any sudden shock, but acts like an embrace that welcomes you to its colorful world right from the moment you hear its first note.

What comes to mind when someone mentions “the Hag”? The term has historically carried connotations of cruelty, referring to the tragic story of an abandoned, neglected, and despised elderly woman unable to gain any comprehension from the outside world. And it’s precisely this profound empathy from humanity’s history that “The Hag” evokes. It’s a fantastic reworking of a song that dates back centuries. The mysterious middle part of “The Hag” actually dates back as far as 1834 and was composed by the great Swedish writer and musician Carl Jonas Love Almqvist. Instead of doing the strict literal translation of the song, our local genius artist prefers to interpret the song lyric in his own unique style. But still, the shocking essence of the story stays the same: the tragic story of an innocent woman who was burned at the stake because she had been accused of witchcraft.

Once you are in the presence of such an amazing combination of rhythms created by Andreas Quincy Dahlbäck and melodious guitar riffs from Daniel Lagerlöf, your perception is guaranteed to be blown away. This kind of music production always sounds so well-thought-out that the whole composition seems to tell a specific story with the help of its instruments. The juxtaposition of powerful rhythmic beats and elevated solos from the guitar is what brings the entire piece to a new level and makes it really expressive.

And when a musician succeeds in providing a perfect discography and uses their talent as a lyricist to create such cultural critique, you can be certain you are hearing something truly spectacular. Using a word with centuries of negativity attached to it, such as “Hag,” turning that word around completely to make it positive, and directly asking why that word shouldn’t be used today shows just how intentional this music needs to be. The song itself becomes not only good music but great storytelling, something that is impossible not to listen to. Combining that storytelling with the grand scale provided by Dahlbäck and Lagerlöf surely makes the whole process feel entirely cinematic. This is what a perfect payoff is like for any listener if the music resonates as much with one’s intellect and emotions as with one’s ear canal. Nothing beats the excitement of waiting to see what direction a musician with such a perfect record will take with his music.

Stream “The Hag” on Spotify 

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