Nicolai Dunger

Nicolai Dunger’s legendary work has spanned over 25 years, 22 albums, with well known collaborations with The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Calexico, Will Oldham, Mercury Rev, has been heard on Volvo TV ads, and infamously covered by Robert Palmer on his final album.

Biography

A former football player, Nicolai was signed by the Telegram label of Warner records, releasing two albums that did not sell enough copies to enable him to give up his part-time job as a gardener.

A meeting with Ebbot Lundberg of the Swedish band The Soundtrack of Our Lives led to two further albums, a tour with Emiliana Torrini and the use of one of his songs in an advertisement for an oil company. This small influx of cash enabled the production of a trio of vinyl albums with the Esbjörn Svensson Trio jazz trio.

This steady production of somewhat experimental acoustic music attracted the attention of Americana luminaries Will Oldham and Jonathan Donahue, and a contract with the Dolores Recordings branch of Virgin Records followed. The first album on this label, Soul Rush with backing from the Esbjörn Svensson Trio attracted some limited attention in 2001, but the next album, 2003's Tranquil Isolation, achieved widespread, especially thanks to its input from Will Oldham.