Tobias Arbo

One year after he released his first ever EP 'Powerlines', Swedish songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Arbo is getting ready for the next chapter in his career. His new single 'Recover' teases his debut album coming later this year. Capturing the sounds of Sufjan Stevens, José González and early days of Bon Iver, CLASH found the debut was "blending folk aspects with pop tropes", where "each song feels shot through with light."

'Powerlines' pondered on the topic of forgiveness to oneself and had Arbo grapple with the question why he out of all people may deserve to put out music – a nonsensical notion a lot of artists can relate to. This first body of work helped him approach his art more candidly. "I guess it’s part of living, it helped me and it had a lot to do with me and my relationship to music."

Sonically, 'Recover' illustrates its message with flowing guitars, sparse piano glimmers and minimal percussion. Arbo's soft voice spans like the water's surface tension until it finally breaks through with the chorus and an intent falsetto. To be in full control of his artistic vision, Tobias Arbo produced the track together with Linus and Hannes Hasselberg (Plàsi, Moonica Mac, Melissa Horn, Cleo), and got it mixed by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Owen, Sylvan Esso, Waxahatchee). The acclaimed photographer Olof Grind, known for his work with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, First Aid Kit and Veronica Maggio, is also the main visual creator for Tobias Arbo.