INTERVIEW: Dagny releases debut album 'Strangers/Lovers': "I just want to make music that makes people feel good and feel hopeful."

Image: Ignat Wiig
Interview: Jett Tattersall

Norway’s Dagny has been releasing music for close to a decade, and today she finally releases her debut album Strangers/Lovers. It is an album that to quote a cliché, has been worth the wait. A collection of polished electro-pop ranging from dancefloor delights to stripped-back ballads, it is beautifully written, produced and performed, and showcases Dagny’s role at the forefront of the pop scene in Norway - and the world.

An album of two halves, the approach was to create two moods and a loose storyline that tracks the beginning and the end of a relationship. Side A (which was first released in May) tracks beginnings of a relationship, full of bright delicious synthpop tunes such as ‘Come Over’ and ‘Somebody’, while Side B is more melancholic, detailing the end of the relationship and the after affects. The music is still dripping in synths, but there is a darker slant to the lyrics, particularly on tracks ‘Please Look At Me’ and ‘It’s Only A Heartbreak’.

One listen to the album confirms the growth in Dagny’s music, her confidence and her talent as a writer. Along with the luscious, impossible-not-to-sing-along-to electro-pop jams, there are the kind of lush ballads that have been missing from her canon up until now, such as the emotive album closer ‘Coast To Coast’.

It may have taken her almost a decade to get to this point, but this debut album is an outstanding collection of pop music that can rightfully sit up there as one of the best releases of 2020. To celebrate the release of Strangers/Lovers we recently caught up with Dagny to find out more.

Congratulations on the release of Strangers/Lovers is it absolutely incredible! How are you feeling now it is out in the world?
I'm so excited. We've been working on it for ages and so it was kind of scary, but I’m just very excited. It’s something that I haven't really done before. It's nice to see that people are connecting with different songs. It's really all that I was hoping for. It's really fun to do an album where you're able to show a different side to your music. It's been super exciting.

I'm so glad you said different sides to your music because of course the album is split into two halves, with a mix of glittering electro and synth pop teamed with more mellow moments. What was the thinking behind the two halves?
The main difference between Side A and Side B is I guess the lyrics. You have this first half of the album, side A, which is very much before the relationship and during the relationship and then you have side B which is more about when the relationship maybe isn't working as well and post-relationship as well when it's over. Lyrically it's quite different. Side B is maybe a bit more emotional and is a bit bolder in a way because it's not as anthemic and as big. But if you know my music then you'll still hear that it's not a completely different universe. It's just trying to tell a slightly different side of the story.

I think it's great and it's really beautiful to hear those emotions championed onto the dancefloor. You seem to be able to bring joy to insecurity because those first stages of a relationship, as exciting as they can be, they're absolutely filled with terror as well.
That's so true. That's cool that you say that because it's such a contrasty thing. Especially that stage of the relationship where you're so madly into it and in love, but you don't know yet whether the other one is feeling the same. There's just so much emotion really in those first stages of a relationship. I've always been a sucker for trying to have a happy song but there's still a touch of melancholy to it. Or you have a melancholic song and there's still like this hopeful feeling to it. I like mixing those two. 

What is that driving creative force behind you when you walk into the studio to create your music? What is the thing that really charges you when you're creating a song?
One of the most amazing things about song writing is the fact that you go into the studio and there's nothing and then you work in the studio and you're creative and you throw ideas and you try different things and then at the end of it you have this song that a day ago or some hours ago or two days ago didn't exist. You never know what's going to happen when you go into the studio and I love that. For me, making music I think all music has its purpose. I can listen to music when I'm sad and I want to feel sad and so I listen to sad music or I can be sad and then I want to listen to something uplifting because I want to feel better. There's music for all kinds of emotions and based on the feedback from my fans, my music is a pick me up for them. They listen to it, they pick up, they get excited, they get energetic and they get hopeful. That's my mission in music. I'm very, very happy with that. So, when I go into the studio I'm just trying to create that feeling really. I just want to make music that makes people feel good and feel hopeful.

Now that your debut album is here, what is on the horizon for you Dagny?
That's a good question with this whole corona situation. I have no idea what's going to happen. I would love to go out and play as soon as we're able to. Play these songs on the album live but if we can't do that then you know, I might just stay in the studio. Maybe I'll get cracking on album number two! I definitely spent enough time getting around to doing album number one, so maybe I should just start immediately on album number two!

Lovers/Strangers is out now. You can download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music and Spotify.

To keep up with all things Dagny, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

More Dagny with Women In Pop coming soon. Subscribe to our magazine here