Tina Dico

Singer/songwriter Tina Dico combines ethereal vocals with emotionally resonant lyrics, securing multiple chart-topping releases in her native Denmark, attracting the attention of Zero 7, and receiving a Danish Grammy for Best Songwriter. During her childhood her father, a dedicated hi-fi enthusiast, selected recordings strictly according to sonic fidelity rather than stylistic category or creative value. This approach exposed the young artist to an unusually broad range of music; although her strongest affinities lay with Leonard Cohen, Donovan, and Joni Mitchell, she had also absorbed substantial opera and traditional Danish repertoire by the time she exhausted the extensive library.

A reel-to-reel tape recorder and a microphone constructed by her father documented her earliest teenage compositions, yet Dico attached little importance to these efforts until she entered a band at age fifteen. The experience rekindled her commitment to music and ultimately led her to enroll at the Danish Royal College of Music, where she formed yet another group and performed original material in talent competitions, one of which aired on Danish television. The broadcast generated interest from several record labels, but the contractual restrictions attached to their proposals prompted her to issue her debut project independently.

The 2003 EP Notes circulated rapidly via personal recommendations and secured the songwriting Grammy even without significant radio support. After relocating to England she collaborated with the downbeat collective Zero 7, contributing to their 2004 album When It Falls and joining the subsequent tour. Later that year she issued the EP Far, which expanded the primarily acoustic material from Notes through the addition of a full band. In early 2006 she delivered her first long-form release, In the Red, followed by Count To Ten in 2007 and the 2008 collection ^Triology, which assembled three newly recorded EPs titled A Beginning, A Detour, and An Open Ending.