Bolander, Kristoffer
I Forgive Nothing
"We're all wrong; I'm not alone!" - A small but very special star glistens steadily and persistently in the European musical firmament. That immediately becomes clear to anyone who has the pleasure of coming into contact with the musical work of Kristoffer Bolander. The Swede with the heavenly voice has been touring from Gothenburg to Italy for almost a decade as the head of the alternative-folk band Holmes, enchanting both thunderous festival crowds and drunken students in the university pubs alike. The audience is inevitably coaxed into a reverent silence, with a deep sense of witnessing a moment of pure, sad beauty. With "I Forgive Nothing" Kristoffer Bolander now releases his first solo album. Hearing the opening bars of this brand new long-player instantly results in the aforementioned sensation. The listener becomes immersed in the sound, lost in the gentle and wisely thoughtful songwriting, with a voice that evokes comparison to Neil Young. The whole thing is supported by a pulsating bed of sound that over the course of the album sporadically swells and then retreats to just an organ and Bolander's delicate voice. The deliberate setting of these counterpoints creates the album's most stirring moments.