User:OrdWix/sandbox/Elsa Esmeralda

Elsa Esmeralda Hedberg is a vocalist, song-writer, music producer, jewellery designer and artist from Gothenburg, Sweden. Musically she is known under her vocalist name Elsa Esmeralda, and more recently for her solo project Elsiope, working mainly within electronic pop, triphop and drum'nbass. Her jewellery brand uses the name Elsa Hedberg. She is currently based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Biography

Hedberg's musical debut took place at age 10-15 around Sweden and Europe, touring with the renowned children's choir Brunnsbo Musikklasser under the leadership of Anne Johansson. She also had a few solo roles as a teenager at the Gothenburg Opera House - among them a modern, Swedish version of The Magic Flute directed by Ole Anders Tandberg.

In her later teens, while attending Hvitfeldska Gymnasiets music programme (at the same time as Little Dragon, Anna von Hausswolf and Laleh), she found an interest in jazz and club music and started working as a vocalist for Andreas Saag (aka Swell Session) alongside fellow singer Jonatan Bäckelie. The three later became part of music collective Gonkyburg arranging club nights at legendary Nefertiti Jazz Club in Gothenburg. She also founded award-winning neo-soul band B.L.E.S.S. with members Mimi Terris and Vanessa Liftig and collaborated as a vocalist with local and foreign bands and music producers like Jimpster, Trevor Loveys, Embee and Fibes, Oh Fibes!.

In 2008 the drum 'n bass track Just One Second, produced by Tony Colman aka London Elektricity with vocals written and sung by Hedberg, was released on Hospital Records and became a hit world wide. The Apex remix of the song was especially successful, with multiple plays on BBC Radio 1Xtra^[1] and featuring on the soundtrack of the video game Gran Turismo 5^[2].

Hedberg, having moved to London for a few years for design studies, ended up co-writing more tracks with Colman who featured her as the only vocalist with 7 of their tracks on his 2011 album Yikes!^[3]. The album was well recieved in the UK^[4] as well as in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

In a Music is Math blog review, Ave Tampere wrote ”The stunning ‘Elektricity Will Keep Me Warm’ starts London Elektricity‘s long anticipated album ‘Yikes!‘ and leaves us sweetly mesmerised by Elsa Esmeralda‘s beautiful vocals”^[5].

Jon O'Brien of AllMusic wrote "While most drum'n'bass maestros rely on a series of faceless vocalists, the sole outside contributor to Yikes! is Swedish singer/songwriter Elsa Esmeralda, who more than repays that trust, her smoky understated tones providing a touch of class to the languid Goldie-esque opener, "Elektricity Will Keep Me Warm," the brooding minimal trip-hop of the Massive Attack-influenced "Fault Lines," and the haunting, somber finale, "Invisible Worlds," which confidently waits four minutes for its Kate Bush-inspired torch song to burst into a blend of improvisational brass riffs and frenetically paced beats."^[6]

In the release year of Yikes!, Hedberg appeared as a guest performer at selected London Elektricity shows throughout the UK^[7] and in Slovakia.

Since then, Hedberg has collaborated as a song-writer and vocalist with Czech producer Philip TBC^[8] and others, played synths in Swedish soul/indie/pop band Jolympix alongside José Gonzales drummer Joel Wästberg^[9], all the while pursuing her work in the jewellery field. She teaches jewellery craft and sometimes coaches children and teenagers in music and song-writing.

Gradually, her electronic artpop project Elsiope started taking shape, resulting in a first EP, Other Zone. 3 out of the 4 tracks were produced by Hedberg herself, the EP was mixed in Sweden by Linn Fijal at Rixmixningsverket and mastered by Frida Claeson at Svenska Grammofonstudion, and in July 2018, the EP made its digital release through Hedberg's own label.^[10]

Discography - a selection

Elsiope - Other Zone EP (Elsiope Records 2018)

Urbandawn - 'Cloudless' on the EP Cloudless (Hospital Records 2015)

Jolympix - singles 'Waiting' and 'Let It Go' (Jolympix 2014 / 2015)

Bop - 'Lucid Dreaming' on the album Punk's Not Dead (MedSchool Records 2014)

Philip TBC - 'Under the Pavement' on the EP Sitting In Shadow (Iolab Records 2014)

Philip TBC - 2 tracks on album Kokoro No Hibiki (Esprit Records 2012)

London Elektricity - 8 tracks on Yikes! (Hospital Records 2011)

London Elektricity - 'Just One Second' on the album Syncopated City (Hospital Records 2008)

Swell Session - 3 tracks on the album Swell Communications (Freerange Records 2007)

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