Biography
Swedish songwriter Tobias Fröberg first captured widespread attention across his native country when his debut album appeared in 2004, later attracting listeners farther afield through the 2006 follow-up Somewhere in the City. That record channels the spirit of the folk-leaning singer/songwriter era of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably echoing Paul Simon, Nick Drake, and Tim Buckley. Born and raised on Gotland—an island long regarded as an artists’ refuge and a favored holiday spot—Fröberg came from a musical home where his father performed bass in a jazz group. Although music captivated him early, he built a thriving career in journalism, contributing to multiple outlets and maintaining a regular column in Aftonbladet, Sweden’s largest daily. He frequently told friends that securing interviews with Neil Young and Ingmar Bergman on the same day would mark the fulfillment of his writing ambitions and prompt him to abandon journalism for music. In 2003 Bergman consented to speak with Fröberg for a planned book on the reclusive director. The evening of their final conversation, Fröberg attended a Neil Young concert in Stockholm; viewing the coincidence as the nearest fate would come to his stated goal, he resigned his post and returned to Gotland to begin composing songs. There he assembled a home studio and enlisted longtime friend Linus Larsson, an established producer. The pair recorded Fröberg’s 2004 debut For Elisabeth Wherever She Is, with Larsson engineering and supplying drums while Fröberg handled every other instrument. The album earned strong critical praise and secured a nomination for Album of the Year from Sweden’s foremost independent music awards body. Fröberg and Larsson proceeded deliberately on the next project, logging more than a hundred days in the studio for Somewhere in the City; once again the two performed nearly all parts, though Ane Brun supplied guest vocals on the duet “Love and Misery.” After one track from the album was placed in a camera commercial, Fröberg’s music reached audiences throughout Europe. The British label Poptones subsequently offered him a U.K. contract, and Somewhere in the City drew enthusiastic notices there. At the same time, the American independent Cheap Lullaby Records issued the album domestically, enabling Fröberg to make his United States debut in spring 2007, highlighted by two appearances at the South by Southwest Music Conference.