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PRESSRELEASE:


The Tiny - Gravity & Grace

After two acclaimed albums, years of touring and a pause, The Tiny is back with their third LP ”Gravity & Grace”.
The album is produced by former Talk Talk bassist Paul "Rustin Man" Webb and The Tiny.

Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson on Gravity & Grace:

-How often do we hear music that really, I mean really crawls under skin, into bone and turns your soul inside out? I would say that this happens very, very rarely. Music that asks the important (and the small...) questions without euphemisms, but in a strong poetic attitude! I can remind myself the strong euphoric moments where I feel totally involved in the music, when I am invited into whatever it might be.
But I´m invited into a state of mind.
Not many musicians succeed in this... In whatever genres it may be.
Over the last few years, I can only remind me feverish meetings with new music by PJ Harvey, Merzbow, Cold War Kids, Otomo Yoshihide and Jim O 'Rourke in which a similar condition has occurred.

State of mind is what The Tiny's music is about... state of mind...
No fucking flirting with the media in terms of "correct” forms, sounds or costumes.
No YAP, as my good grandfather from Rödåsel said.
Naked, and pared down.

Gravity and grace.

Ellekaris voice cut with pain and great love, right through... it really cuts right through... it hits...
There are a number of quite wonderful passages on this beautiful album where her voice literally is plunging into my interior. She wants to enter. She wants to touch. There are no options. I feel. I am being led further...

With an unparalleled timing she sings, breathes and recites her way through the music. The voice slides around... distorts itself (!) of strong feelings and opinions, it accentuates her state of mind. It seizes me! It nails me! Period!
The beautiful weaves created by The Tiny is located in, under, and on Ellekaris voice. Not as accompaniment, but in, under and on...
In, under and on... gravity... grace...

Leo Svensson... you tone poet and maker of warm weaves. Do you understand how complex but congenially simple landscape of musical directions you create?
Leo Svensson... fuckins rule! Seriously... fuckins rule!

The Tiny's music is completely their own. References sucks. I really think that there is nothing like this music! The door is ajar, dear readers and listeners!
I get madly happy when I am invited in this way into something so touching and beautiful.
A real album. A state of mind. Gravity and grace.
Naked, and pared down.

Beautiful!!!

Mats Gustafsson, Gärsnäs August 2009

Biography

Singer / pianist Ellekari Larsson and cellist Leo Svensson met at the club Kägelbanan in Stockholm winter 2002. And fell in love.
Although it took the couple six months before they dared to play together, it was then that The Tiny was born.
As soon as The Tiny was a fact Ellekari's sold her apartment in Stockholm to finance the recording of the band's debut album. ( "It felt like an obvious decision (!)")
The couple found new accommodation in a rented holiday home outside of town. So begins the story of The Tiny.

Since then, a lot of things have happened. Beside their own tours, The Tiny has played and collaborated with artists like Ed Harcourt, Martha Wainright, Ane Brun (who they also run the record label with) Camera Obscura, Anna Ternheim, Heikki, Magic Numbers, Jarvis Cocker.
Ellekaris voice has been heard on albums with Frida Hyvönen, Primal Scream, Peter Bjorn & John, Taken By Trees, Freddie Wadling etc.
Leos string arrangements and cello- and musical saw-playing has been heard on records by Jenny Wilson, Nicolai Dunger, the Concretes, Blood Music, Peter Morén, Anna Järvinen, etc.

Equally obvious that to give up their security and their accommodation for the arts (or Pop), it is perhaps that after two acclaimed albums on their own record label and around 400 concerts around the world, they needed a break.

"Finally it was just too much. All our life was The Tiny. Either we end the band, or us.
We had a few gigs booked left, some in France on a festival where also Anna Ternheim played. We began to chat about life and music, and she was then in the midst of making her third album.
The conversation ended with her asking if we wanted to play with her instead for a while. So now we have been playing with her for a year, as her band."

However we started to feel the urge to write new songs pretty fast, and it felt nice to make music again when the pressure disappeared. Our life is music, after all.

We called our friend Johan Berthling who have been playing bass with us through the years for an album meeting. We wanted to find a producer to work with, and with the new songs in the back of our heads, we picked out some favorite records, where we enjoyed the production.
Three albums ended up at the top of the table: Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out of Season, Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden and PJ Harvey - To Bring you my Love.
A common denominator in the first two discs is Paul Webb.
He produced the Beth Gibbons album and played bass in Talk Talk. We thought that "you can always ask", so we set off to get hold of him, to see if he would be interested, which he was, to our great surprise!
We met half way (Sthlm - London) and recorded in Kalle Gustafsson's (Soundtrack Of Our Lives) fantastic studio in Gothenburg.
And here we are now, a year later, with the album in hand.

Enjoy: Gravity & Grace

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press release
Starring: Someone Like You
Scandinavia release March 22nd 2006
European Release May 8th 2006



When it was time for us to make our second album we had a bunch of songs and bundles of ideas.
We wanted to make our record grandiose and true to life in a cinematic way, taking each idea to a new level whilst still keeping our tiny personal identity.
We wanted to make the album quirky with each song having its own universe, dirty and beautiful at the same time, enhancing each feeling with any means at our disposal.
We wanted everyone to be happy with the result and that we enjoyed the creative process while we were in it. The process was both fun and painful at the same time and we are very pleased with the outcome.

Jari Haapalainen, whom we had worked with previously in other contexts, became our producer and sifted through our demos to pick the 14 tracks to work with. We rehearsed and travelled down from Stockholm to Christoffer Lundkvist’s “Aerosol Grey Machine” studios that he built in an old barn, in Vallarum in southern Sweden where we recorded for three days.
After this Leo and Johan wrote the string and horn arrangements and Ellekari took care of the backing vocal arrangements.
We collected a group of musicians, recorded the arrangements and other small additions and went back to Christoffer to mix the tracks.
The result is the album “Starring; Someone Like You” and the EP “My Mother EP”.

As with most songwriters many lyrics are deeply personal and omitting. I don’t want to explain in detail what each track is about as I prefer to give the listener the freedom to make his/her own interpretation.

So the following is a somewhat dry and stripped down explanation of each track on the album.

1. Kind Of Like You
Ellekari plays a toy piano, Johan synthesized bass and organ and Leo has plugged his cello into an amp. A “back-to-front-glockenspiel” comes in and out. Anja Bigrell and Lina Nyberg are harmonising…

2. My Mother
An uncomplicated recording. Ellekari plays a ragtime piano. Leo wrote an uplifting string arrangement.

3. Know Your Demons
On this track we have a lot of guesting friends.
Leo plays the pedal organ and sings harmony. Leo has written the song. Jari plays the drums. Ellekari piano and vocals, and Johan plays the contrabass.
Markus Krunegård, Ane Brun and others help out with additional vocals.

4. Everything is Free.
This track, which is written by Gillian Welch, was the last one we recorded on a late night in Vallarum. Jari and Christoffer put up mics all over the room which gives you a feeling of being present there with us.

5. Dirty Frames.
Here everyone’s ideas ran haywire in an inhibited and uncompromising way.

6. Sorry featuring Ed Harcourt
This track was recorded by Ellekari and Ed a late night in Stockholm. Leo’s string arrangement was recorded just after.

7. I don’t Like (the way you move me...)
Ellekari plays the pump organ. Johan has written the arrangements for strings and horns – to be exact for bassoon, oboe and French horn.

8. In Reality
Wurlitzer – piano, vibraphone, contrabass, cello and violin. Stripped down and wonderful.

9. They Say It’s Weird
Leo plays the saw and Ellekari a myriad of old Casio-synthesizers and piano. Johan on bass.

10. My Greatest Fear.
We thought of soundtracks when we made this. We got a really good take, added an echo like reverb in reverse and kept on building with additional sounds and Johan’s string and horn arrangements.

The Tiny are:
Ellekari Larsson-piano & vocals etc.
Leo Svensson-cello etc.
and Johan Berthling-contrabass etc.

The album is released on DetErMine Records, which Ellekari has together with Norwegian platinum recording artist Ane Brun and Canadian songstress and accordion player Wendy McNeill, in collaboration with COOP and V2 Music Scandinavia.

”If it wasn’t for the fact that there is a certain band from Gothenburg already calling themselves this, then we probably may have called the album the likes of ”the Soundtracks of our Lives” hohohoho.
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Bio 2005

* History
** DetErMine records
*** "Close Enough
**** About the songs
***** Members of The Tiny

So, this is us. Ellekari, Leo and Johan
Me (Ellekari) and Leo (cellist) started this band in the year of 2002. We were introduced by a friend, with the line -You two would probably like playing together... And YES we did! I had a bunch of songs laying around, so we started playing those. We recorded a demo in my apartment in Stockholm, and when we got a gig we asked Johan(double-bass) to play with us. After that we got more gigs, and played every small club we could find, selling demos. Since we sold quite a few demos when we played shows, we figured that we should make an album, and leave the level of demo-swamp (demo-träsket!) At that time I owned a flat in the center of stockholm, and it had become worth much more than I payed for it.

** So. I sold the flat , booked three days in a studio that we all liked, recorded and mixed and mastered, got a distribution-agreement with V2 Music Scandinavia, moved in with Leo in a house (or more cottage) that he rented, and I released our first album "Close Enough" in Scandinavia in April of 2004, on DetErMine Records, that I started together with my dear friend, and wonderful singer/songwriter Ane Brun It´s licenced to V2 in a couple of countries, and Eyeball records takes care of it (and us) in the United States.

*** When we recorded "Close Enough" we wanted to start from nothing. Nothing as in silence that is. We had played all the songs live for some time, and we knew how we wanted them to be. Among other things I think that it came out to be an un-produced album, maybe as reaction to all the main-stream-pop that attacks you where ever you are. It was recorded live in one room, in two days. Therefore the name "Close Enough"

**** I believe that if I write songs, that has a meaning to me, myself and I, they might have a meaning for some one else too. It´s all about recognition I´d say, and for me, when I hear a song I like, and recognice myself in, I get a sense of belonging. My wish is that who ever listens, and like what they hear, makes up their own mind what the songs are about. All I can do is to be honnest with myself. Most of us have been in love, been left, lost some one you love, and so on... IF some people can fit my songs into their lives, I would say that I´ve reached my goal as a song-writer.
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*****Members:
* Ellekari Larsson - vocals and piano and stuff.
Writes songs most of her free time.
Has also recorded and toured with "Heikki" (Producer Jari Haapalainen & Maria Ericsson (The Concretes)) "Vega" ,
Ed Harcourt , "Peter Bjorn and John" among other things...

* Leo Svensson - Cello and Musical Saw
Left the classical scene and the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, and is now allergic to notes (maybe an exaggeration) Playes in "Gul3" , has done recordings with Ane Brun, "The Concretes", Ulf Sturesson, Nicolai Dunger, Sofia Karlsson, and many more. Is also a song-writer and a master of string-arrangements.

* Johan Berthling - Double bass
Runs the record-label "Häpna", plays in "Tape" .Has played in tons of bands. For instance with David Grubbs, Tim Barnes members of Sonic Youth , Stina Nordenstam and many more.... Writes amazing arrangements. Seems to have the energy of ten people!
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Close Enough was released in the spring of 2004 on Ellekari‚s and Ane Brun´s label,
DetErMine Records (distributed by V2 in Scandinavia).
Eyeball Records released it in America in Spring 2005.