Adna

Gracia Ting

There is something about the night, something about the darkness of the skies that feels expansive and refreshing. Your thoughts are for yourself, unafraid and safe in the dark. You feel wistful for things you don’t allow yourself to hope for in the day. You are restless and sombre, yet thoughtful and bold, all at once. The contradictions might feel too much at times, but they fuel the beauty of the night, and therein lie the allure of Swedish-born, Berlin-based singer-songwriter Adna’s music. Her debut album, entitled Night, effortlessly marries the melancholy of hope, and the hopefulness of the dark. With achingly honest and immersive lyrics, (in Rain she sings: ‘go / before you’re too lost in love / when you’re in / you’ll never get out / I will cut myself open / in hope of removing the hurts of the past), Adna’s music transports you back to the stories of your heart, and inspires in you a quiet boldness you can’t quite forget.

With her sophomore album Run, Lucifer out in the Spring of 2015, and her song Living recently included in Nordic by Nature’s 20 Best Scandinavian Songs of 2014, we can’t wait to see what this brilliant artist does next. We recently spoke with Adna about her music and her love for the night.

Adna, thank you for taking the time to chat with Wallflowers. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? (E.g. your beginnings in music, what you’re listening to at the moment, what book you’re currently reading?)
Hi, and thank you for having me. While answering these questions I’m listening to Nils Frahm and reading Norwegian Wood a third time. I got in contact with music at quite an early age, since I studied music in secondary school, but it wasn’t until my time at a music high school that I started caring more about it. At some point, I just saw something new in music with which I started identifying myself.

What’s your creative process usually like when creating a song?
Whenever I get some free time, usually at night, I collect words or melodies I’ve been writing down and then I try to do something with it. Sometimes I improvise with an idea I have in mind. But often I already know how I want it all to sound like, before I’ve even started, so I work with it until I get there.

We love the melancholic sound and achingly poetic lyrics of your songs. Do you have any favourite lines from your songs? Why so?

Thank you, I’m glad to hear that. However, I don’t really have any favourite lines because it means that I have to look closer at my lyrics and I usually try not to over-analyse my songs. I’m afraid that if I over-analyze them, I’ll lose the first thoughts and feelings I had when starting off, and I believe that the very first ones are the truest ones. Also, if I start analyzing, then I’ll never finish anything. I believe in my feelings so I just let them lead me trough the process, and feelings have different meanings to everybody and I would not like to take that away from anyone by talking about the songs too much.


You titled your album ’Night’. What is it about the night, or this word, that you love?
I’m grateful for the silence that comes with the night. I like giving myself that time at night to process feelings and experiences, and I find it inspiring how silence can bring out new sounds.

What are you up to next in terms of music? (By the way, we’d love for you to perform here in Singapore!)
I finished my second record a few weeks ago, and now I’m really excited (and nervous) about sharing it with others who are interested in listening. The first single is out in November, and I have a couple of shows left this year, before I lock myself inside my bedroom to finish all the live sets for next year’s release. The plan is just to give it an honest try-out, and if I’m allowed to dream very big, then I might get the chance to see other places (like Singapore) in the future.

Listen to Adna’s music here and here. Discover more of Adna here and here.