Sigrid

Just two top-tier albums into her career, 25-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid has already established herself as an impeachable pop powerhouse. Sold-out tours worldwide, top 10 singles, number 1 albums, it’s all there.

How To Let Go was started in LA in early 2020, before the global pandemic saw her escape back to Norway. “That’s been a really weird road to go down in the pandemic – I definitely had a bit of an identity crisis because the thing that was most important to me was taken away. I thought, who am I without the music? But the pandemic made me realise I don’t want to do anything else. I was scared to admit that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”

That sense of taking control permeates much of How To Let Go. The album also occasionally leans more towards organic, almost folksy instrumentation, with songs like the psych-tinged Dancer built around 70s-esque acoustic guitars, channeling Sigrid’s childhood idols such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

While the pandemic and the resulting lockdown isn’t mentioned directly, its influence is all over How To Let Go. The album works not only as a salve, but also as a testament to the power of having to let things go, which is where the album’s title came from.

Sigrid has also realised that music making is healing for her, too: that it’s all she wants to do. The gargantuan Mirror, for example, is an anthem for her fans, but it’s also a reminder to herself; that it starts with the person in the reflection. Now these emotional songs that veer between the dancefloor and the quiet corners and are steeped in reflection, upheaval and change, are becoming other people’s anthems. The emotional release can really start. For everyone.