Biography

Swedish singer and songwriter Tobias Fröberg achieved stunning success in his homeland with his debut album in 2004, and has won a growing international following with his second album, 2006's Somewhere in the City, which recalls the cream of the folk-influenced singer/songwriter movement of the '60s and '70s, particularly Paul Simon, Nick Drake, and Tim Buckley. Fröberg was born and raised in Gotland, an island community known as a haven for artists and a popular vacation destination. Fröberg grew up in a musical household -- his father played bass in a jazz ensemble -- but despite his love for music, he initially pursued a successful career as a journalist, writing for a variety of publications in addition to contributing a regular column to Aftonbladet, the nation's biggest newspaper. Fröberg often joked to friends that if he could interview Neil Young and Ingmar Bergman the same day, he'd consider his career as a writer complete and give it up to make music. In 2003, Bergman agreed to talk with Fröberg for a book he was writing on the publicity-shy Swedish filmmaker. The night of his final interview with Bergman, Fröberg attended a Neil Young concert in Stockholm, and figuring this was as close as fate was likely to allow to achieving his great goal, he quit his job and returned to Gotland to begin writing songs. Fröberg set up a home studio, and contacted his close friend Linus Larsson, a successful record producer. Together they made Fröberg's 2004 debut album, For Elisabeth Wherever She Is; Larsson handled the recording and played the drums, while Fröberg played all the other instruments. The album was a considerable critical success, and received an Album of the Year nomination from Sweden's most prestigious independent music award committee. Fröberg and Larsson took their time making the follow-up, spending over a hundred days in their studio recording 2006's Somewhere in the City; once again Fröberg and Larsson played nearly all the instruments, though Ane Brun contributed a memorable duet vocal for the song "Love and Misery." When one of the tracks from the album was licensed for use in a camera commercial, Fröberg's music was suddenly being heard all over Europe, and the British Poptones label signed Fröberg to a deal in the U.K., where Somewhere in the City received rave reviews. Meanwhile, the rising indie label Cheap Lullaby Records gave Somewhere in the City an American release, and in the spring of 2007 Fröberg made his debut in the States, including a pair of shows at the prestigious South by Southwest Music Conference. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi