Swedish singer-songwriter David Ahlen’s delicate hymns are unique in the Christian music realm, resembling the minimalist indie of Bon Iver or Sun Kil Moon more than David Crowder or Casting Crowns. When ImageUpdate reviewed his full-length album, We Sprout in Thy Soil, last year, we called his music “songs for the prayer closet, not the public square”—and his latest release, New Jerusalem, echoes this description. This four-song EP, released earlier this month from thehourislate, is haunting, never hook-laden. A number of additional musicians (many sharing the name Ahlen) contributed to the album, but the resulting songs are as minimalistic as a Japanese garden. The eerily melodic title track is the most memorable piece at first listen—the arrangement of softly plucked guitar and cello, along with Ahlen’s plaintive falsetto, turns lyrics that could be bombastic (“There’s a wind blowing / it’s a new day / There’s a fire in our hearts / it’s a new way”) into a lullaby. Another track, “He Gives,” offers the gentlest of exhortations sung to two rhythmic notes of viola: “He pours out healing oil / it’s dripping from your hands / He gives / do receive / the word is in your mouth / just speak it out.” New Jerusalem may listen like an addendum to We Sprout in Thy Soil; but both albums offer a hand to hold in the dark, reminders of God’s love that never lapse into platitude—both are essential. / Image Journal (US)

David Åhlén clearly isn’t the most prolific composer working today: not only is his latest EP, New Jerusalem, the first release since the sublime We Sprout in Thy Soil appeared in mid-2009, its four songs add up to a mere dozen minutes of music. But, oh my, those twelve minutes are beautiful indeed. The Stockholm-based composer illuminates his material once again with his angelic voice, and it would be hard to imagine any listener exposed to the EP not immediately hungry for more of the same.

In terms of lyrical subject matter, the songs are devotional in nature (passages such as “There’s a wind blowing / It’s a new day / I see glory coming / New Jerusalem” bring the religious character into sharp relief) but anyone not of a religious persuasion shouldn’t let that deter him/her from listening, as such material transcends personal affiliation. The title track’s focus ison his haunting and tremulous voice, with the primary accompaniment acoustic guitar and, eventually, a subtly integrated bell chime. A gorgeous song of devotion and supplication, the lilting “He Gives” is elevated by backing Åhlén’s singing with a pizzicatti pattern and a stirring string drone that sparkles ever more glowingly as the uplifting song nears its end. In contrast to the opening songs, “Vesper” exudes a darker character as Åhlén conveys the song’s desperate tone in a lower pitch (“Everything’s still / No voice is heard / I cling to you”). “Light Up My World,” by comparison, expresses calm and resolution, the singer assured of his creator’s presence and finding comfort in his unwavering support (“Let me die in your arms / Take my hand and lead me there / to the other side”). Recorded in Örebro, Sweden, the songs’ arrangements are uncluttered, with Åhlén’s vocals and guitar playing augmented by Christoffer Wadensten’s guitar and a string quartet (violinists Silvia Östersjö and Anna Braw, violist Niklas Karlsson, and cellist Alexander Lundberg), which in turn makes them all the more showcases for Åhlén’s voice. It would be hard to imagine twelve minutes better spent. /Textura (Canada)

 

“Inte en enda sekund känns överflödig” 8/10 PM Jönsson, Sonic

“Indiepopens svar på Arvo Pärt” Kulturnyheterna, SVT

“Sällan har jag hört svensk andlig musik på det här sättet, timid, men ändå intensivt övertygande” 4/5 Göteborgsposten

“något av det mest egensinniga jag hört en svensk artist göra på länge” Lira

“Ett makalöst vackert album” P3 pop

“David Åhléns musik är ett blinkande fyrljus vid horisonten.” Tidningen Kulturen

“Hans röst omfamnar varmt och innerligt från första sekund” 4/5 Corren

“bländande på ett sätt som känns fulländat i sin kontext” 4/5 Uppsala Nya Tidning

“David Åhléns stilla hymner förtjänar att nå utanför församlingens krets.” Nöjesguiden

“där många andra inte kan ta sig under det ytliga och manierade har Åhlén, med en uppväxt i kyrklig miljö, en trovärdig grund för sina innerliga och avskalade sånger.” 4/6 i Svenska Dagbladet

”Åhlén sätter ny standard för musik med andliga förtecken.” 5/5 Dagen

David har verkligen hittat fram till ett eget uttryck, något som möjligen skulle kunna kallas ”sakral indie” Trots allt

“Mange artister innen popmusikken søker mot det sakrale i musikken, men få tar det så langt eller direkte som svenske David Åhlén” 4/6 Bergen Tidende, Norge

“David Ahlen manages to convey the emotional sense of a spiritual world in a stripped down simplicity displaying a raw and unafraid voice.” Cyclic Defrost, Australia

“These are songs for the prayer closet, not the public square; but their intimacy and simplicity makes them both timely and timeless, modern psalms that the public should hear.” Image Journal, USA

“Stunning in its tone and uniqueness” Silent Ballet, USA

“His heavenly, high-pitched voice is front and center on his debut album, We Sprout in Thy Soil, and that’s exactly where it belongs. It’s also elegantly supported by a small coterie of acoustic instruments (…) and elevated by some equally beautiful songwriting. The album’s a mere twenty-seven minutes long, yet somehow doesn’t feel incomplete as the ten songs of faith—“prayers” might be more like it—compensate for brevity with depth.” Textura, Kanada

“Forget radio-friendly music, this album is a whispered poem” Absolute Noise, France

“David Åhlén’s debut record “We sprout in thy soil”, his first under his under his own name, is absolutely gorgeous. You don’t need to share his beliefs to be touched; the beauty of his art come through regardless.” Itsatrap, USA

“We Sprout In Thy Soil is as fragile as a snowflake – you think it’s melting away as soon as you put your fingers on it. David Åhlén from Sweden created a melancholic and sad masterpiece with his first full lenght album.” Common Folk Meadow, USA

“Ahlen plays acoustic guitar, and sings in this weirdly watery style that almost reminds us of Tim Buckley at his eeriest” Dusty Groove America, USA