INTERVIEW: Heidrunna on her glorious synthpop debut album 'Melodramatic': "Synths are so cool and you never get tired listening to that sound."
Iceland born and London based singer-songwriter Heidrunna recently released what is quite possibly one of this year’s greatest collection of synthpop with her debut album Melodramatic.
Expertly soaked in the sounds of 1980s synthpop while remaining defiantly contemporary, it is an album full of glorious melodies, uplifting beats, moments of classic scandipop melancholy and most of all, it is full of feels.
Produced by Liam Howe (Lana Del Rey, MARINA, FKA twigs, Ellie Goulding), the album delves into love, relationship and loss. Album highlight ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’ is a delicious, swirling track that is both assertive and full of frustration as Heidrunna tries to win over a indecisive lover: ‘don’t keep me waiting, tell me that I’m your number one”. The moody ‘Erasing You’ is in many ways is the counterpoint to ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’ with its harder edges reflecting the moment when you realise you have to remove a person from your life forever: “I can’t keep on pretending…all that I can do is just erase everything about you” she sings.
While 1980s-tinged synthpop is the solid foundation of the album, Heidrunna explores other soundscapes on Melodramatic. The stunning and heartbreaking ‘No Valium’ has a country-pop feel with nary a thumping synth in sight and honestly explores the trauma experienced when your relationship collapses after your partner finds someone else. “I won’t be going on valium but I might have a drink or two / I might not sleep, I might not eat but with some help I’ll get over you”. Album closer ‘All Cried Out’ is another melancholic ballad, this time with an electronic beat, that details loss and heartbreak and how much a struggle it can be to get through it. “I try to bury the pain…I still feel so fucking sad”.
Melodramatic is an album that leaves you emotionally charged and regularly has ‘wow’ moments that leave you momentarily agape at its sheer brilliance. A singer and songwriter for several decades, Heidrunna has struck gold with her debut solo album and she really should be you new favourite pop obsession. We recently caught up with her to find out more about creating Melodramatic and her music career.
Hi Heidrunna! Thanks so much for chatting to us today. How is life in your world right now?
Hi hi, thank you so much for having me! Life is good, I guess now that summer is finally here and that makes everything easier. At the moment I’m trying to get the album out there and get it heard. I’m also figuring out how I’m going to do the live shows.
A massive congratulations on the release of that album Melodramatic, it is absolutely amazing! How does it feel to have it out in the world?
It does feel amazing and I’m so happy that I finally managed to put it out! I’ve been wanting to do this album for so long but haven’t had the chance before. The only bummer is that I don’t feel that much different! I guess it’s because it never stops. Now that it is finally out I need to get people to know about it. And I think that’s the hard part.
Somebody said you could have the best book in the world but if nobody knows about it, nothing will happen...I think that applies to music as well.
Can you tell me a little about your creative process making the album?
Well it started with me going over some of my old songs, I thought it would be such a shame if they weren’t heard. They still sounded good to me even though some were written 15 years ago. Funnily enough I only ended up with 4 of the old songs cause it got me and I began to write again and came up with 6 brand new ones.
I started to work with Liam Howe as a producer, he has a studio in Islington/Hoxton and we basically met almost every Tuesday to do some recording. Everything stopped though with the pandemic but I kept on writing. It was so much fun!! I forgot how much I enjoyed that whole process. He has so many incredible synths, super cool sounds, and a good brain. I loved it.
I can say it took me 20 months from start to finish with this record… but much much longer really if you factor in the old songs that I had already written!
One of my favourite tracks on the album is the track ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’, it is pure bliss. Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration behind this track?
Talking about old songs! ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’ was written with Barry Stone and Julian Gingell. It was quite scary and all new to me. I had just signed to Universal Publishing and this was a kind of writing session that we had Kylie in mind for.
I had never done this kind of thing before. I used to be in bands and that was not the set up I normally wrote songs in. I thought it was great, they were super good and it taught me a lot. This song is about love! Surprise surprise! It’s about the chemistry you can feel and want to know if the other person feels the same.
There is a really strong 1980s, synthpop vibe to the album, which is glorious. What do you love about this sound, and also why do you think the 1980s sound still remains so popular 40 years later?
It’s funny cause I never thought it would be so much 80s sounding, I was more thinking the 90’s ha ha! I guess some of the good 80s songs don’t date and are still current. Some of the synths are so cool and you never get tired listening to that sound, so, for me I like old school songwriting with super cool sexy sounds! That’s what I was going for, voila!
If we take it all the way back to the beginning, what role did music play in your life when you were growing up?
A lot! My late dad was a ship’s Captain and he used to bring some vinyl home, everything from Boney M to Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, you name it! My favourite was Blondie, Olivia Newton-John and Abba. My poor mother - she can hardly listen to Abba, she hates them ha ha! I totally overplayed the Abba records and she says to me that she gets “Grænar bólur“ (that means green pimples in Icelandic) when she hears their songs!
How did your music career start? How did you get from there to here?
My music career started probably when I was 18-19 years old. I was trying to figure out how I was going to sing and record. I started to sing very young and every time I saw I microphone I just wanted to grab it… still do. So, I looked up in the Icelandic Yellow Pages at the time and found the telephone numbers of 2 producers and called them up. The first one said no, he was busy with something. Not sure if that was just to put me down gently but the second one said yes.
I went to Studio Syrland, it was the hip studio in Iceland at the time. I met the producer there, we got on and I did my first cover with him called ‘For What It’s Worth’. It did really well and I think after that I just loved being in the studio and hearing myself blasting from the radio, the cars and all the shops I walked past. No turning back!
Being a ‘pop star’ involves so many different creative outlets - writing, recording, performing live, creating music videos. Which one do you enjoy the most?
I think I enjoy the writing part and taking my songs into the studio and hearing them finished. Especially if it turns out better than I thought it would. I love it!
It’s no secret the music industry does not have a reputation of being a safe space for women, in the main because it has been run by older, white, straight men since its inception. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
Well this is a problem like nepotism and ageism and a multitude of other ugliness. I think it transcends all industries and there’s no reason to believe that it’s not a factor in the music industry. From what we’ve seen recently in the creative spectrum we should be very much open to the negative experiences of others. My personal experience has been very lucky in the large part. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a bit of a viking and men might be a little bit scared of me. But having said that I don’t want to sound flippant.
Like I said, I’ve been lucky with the men I have worked and they have been gentlemen and actually it has been men that have given me opportunities without any shenanigans. I definitely think it’s harder to be a woman in this business, to get the same respect as a man would, even though your are doing the same thing.
Melodramatic is out now, what else is on the cards for Heidrunna in 2022?
I’m working towards getting an album that I’m proud of into the homes and ears of people that would like to hear it and will love it as much as I do!
Melodramatic is out now via Klaka Records. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Heidrunna you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
