Eva Dahlgren has no retirement plans with her wife.
Swedish singer legend Eva Dahlgren, 61, will be returning to Finland for a long time. Dahlgren will have four concerts in Finland this year: two in Tampere in June and another two in the autumn in Helsinki and Turku.
Dahlgren’s breakthrough album I blekt blondins hjärta appeared in 1991, which turned 30 last year. The album will be heard from the beginning to the end of the autumn concerts.
– I still love all the songs on the album. It’s rare for me. I hadn’t listened to it in a long time and I realized Wau, this is a good record. People have many memories of the album, as do I, Dahlgren tells Iltalehti.
The singer-songwriter, who excels as a photographer and children’s writer, wants to tour for as long as possible.
Iltalehti met Eva Dahlgren in Helsinki on 11 May. Inka Soveri
– It depends on my vote. Then when my instrument no longer works the way I want, I will stop, he says.
There has been a break from the gigs due to the corona pandemic. For example, the summer gigs in Tampere were originally supposed to be in the fall of 2020. The pandemic has been a difficult time for Dahlgren.
– I’ve stayed healthy, but I’ve been bored. People have feared each other, avoided contact, and become isolated. Some of my friends have said that the pandemic has done good: it has been able to work remotely and be more with children. I haven’t seen anything good here, he says.
Like a farmer
Dahlgren’s latest album Evaluation was released in August 2020. After the summer, the pandemic seemed to subside and Dahlgren was preparing to go on tour. Then the second wave began.
– We had time to practice for four days until everything was canceled. I moved to the cottage, sat there and did nothing. I am like a farmer who lives according to the seasons: I write music, I record, I go on tour and I start from the beginning. I couldn’t write the songs because the timing seemed wrong, Dahlgren recalls.
After photographing and writing a biography, Dahlgren has started working on new music. Inka Soveri
So he came up with something else to do: he started photographing. The photos gave rise to an exhibition that opened in Stockholm in March. The images taken from the car ride were inspired by Dahlgren’s own song Taxi.
Music and visuals have always gone hand in hand in Dahlgren’s mind. As a child, he started making songs inspired by photos or movies. Although Dahlgren is passionate about photography, he wants to keep it a fun side project alongside music.
A long union
Dahlgren and his wife, jewelry designer Efva Attling, 70, have held one since the 1990s. They registered their partnership in 1996 and married in 2009 when the gender-neutral marriage law came into force in Sweden. When Dalhgren is asked the secret of a long marriage, he stops to think.
– What is it? Have fun! I think that is the key to everything. The other must also be given space and respect.
Many couples started joint projects during the pandemic, such as home renovations. Dahlgren and Attling did not do so, but have worked together in the past. Dahlgren, for example, has photographed Attling’s jewelry ads.
Eva Dahlgren and Efva Attling are a longtime couple. Picture from 2018. AOP
– We always have our own projects and we talk about them with each other. It is wonderful. Even though we’ve been together for so many years, we still talk for hours on Friday nights at the dinner table. I am lucky.
Dahlgren says he and Attling are opposites of each other.
– I call him Ferrari, I’m more of a lawn mower. I like to think about things overnight.
Both love their jobs, and joint retirement plans have not been painted in more detail.
– We have agreed that we will probably never retire, Dahlgren ponders.
A different life
Dahlgren and Attling once lived in New York, but have now lived in Sweden for years. They have homes in the city and in the country.
– After living in the United States for a while and seeing the country’s society and political system, it is really nice to return to Scandinavia. We have such wonderful countries. I love being Swedish, Dahlgren says.
In Sweden, the pandemic was relatively relaxed and there were few restrictive measures. Dahlgren thought it was a good decision.
Dahlgren is grateful for his long career. – I get the most joy from my work, he says. Inka Soveri
– However, we took freedom responsibly, he says.
In addition to their Swedish homes, Dahlgren and Attling have a holiday home in the Italian countryside where they spend about a month each year.
– There we live a completely different life in the middle of the mountains. It does good for the brain and heart.
During the pandemic, Dahlgren also began writing his biography. The first part will be published in Sweden in the autumn and the second part is already underway. More parts may come.
– Depends on how old I am, he laughs.