Stolt

Stolt was recorded in the summer of 2000 on the island of Gotland, home base for the ladies of Ainbusk.  The Swedish word "stolt" means "proud", and appears first in the title of the second cut Stolt att vara kvinna  (Proud to be a woman).   Ainbusk had likewise performed a cabaret show at the China Theater in Stockholm in 2000, named and themed "Stolt."

As in their 1998 album, the lyrics have been provided by Marie, though partnered to Josefin on two tracks, the leadoff Aven om vi såras (Even if we hurt(?)) and Gryningen (The Dawn).   The music is credited to Josefin and guitarist Roger Gustafsson on five tracks, and Josefin and Anders Lundquist on two others.   For the album, Gustafsson contributes conventional electric guitar, dobro, pedal steel, lapsteel, and mandolin.

Ainbusk continue in their development of a folksound which relies on simple harmonies, and occassionally, as in "Angel", the husky charging style of a Bonnie Bramlett.   Several cuts (such as  En dag i Sänder ) find a country-western flavor, evoked in no little measure by the steel guitar work.  Josefin's lead vocals seem to be getting huskier, and a bit lazier; on the evidence of this album, she is not coaxing the same range from her pipes as B&B revealed during the production of "Shapes."  On one track, when she comes in on the lead vocal, it just seems a mismatch.   I have played this album at home, in car, and on desktop computer sound systems, and loud.  Recently I found that playing this album through headphones produces a different and engaging depth of sound which I had not heard on the other systems. 

                The tracklist:
Även om vi såras
Stolt att vara kvinna
 Gräsmattan blå
 Maggans tur
 Amanda
 Fri inuti
 Vill bara vara
 En dag i sänder
 Gryningen
 Linnéa
 Ängel
 Honung och salt
In an Aftonbladet interview in 1997, Josefin Nilsson mentioned that working inside Ainbusk is entertaining, but that there was a "seriousness" underneath.   With some caution because of my weakness in Swedish language, I venture that a good part of that seriousness exists in the heartfelt lyrics that have marked both Ainbusk and Stolt.  

Även om vi såras touches hauntingly on the issue of spousal abuse, with the conflicts and losses of innocence that such an experience entails.  The title song is a feminist anthem.   Overall, the songs are attractive, even for the English only audience.
Elsewhere in these pages I have asserted that for the English speaking audience, the sung lyrics of foreign language recordings become simply another instrument in the orchestration of the music.  I was interested therefore to find this from Björn Ulvaeus, as quoted in Carl Magnus Palm's new biography, Bright Lights, Dark Shadows:  
But they didn't print the lyrics on the album sleeves in those days.  Our English wasn't good enough to understand exactly what they were singing, so we ended up with some kind of phonetic gibberish.

That shows you how little [the lyrics] meant [to us].   The lyrics had no relevance whatsoever beyond the sound of them...
Plainly, the lyrics (by Marie Nilsson-Lind) matter to Ainbusk.   Stolt will grow on the listener, even the non-Swedish speaker, as an aural experience, whether or not the listener understands Swedish.  And like Björn said, this can be a sufficient basis for inspiration, and for pleasure.  But Ainbusk is combining this was something deeper, and eventually we may need to translate the songs so they may be given their due.  At present, no such translation pages can be found on the web.

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