Mette: About the Album Simple Matters

English below Danish text

View 12 pages booklet to Simple Matters: iTunes_12pages-mette-final booklet

Om albummet Simple Matters

Med udgivelsen af albummet ”Simple Matters” fejres flere milepæle: Nye sange, skrevet med bl.a. den legendariske Kostas, som har skrevet sange med countrystjerner som Patty Loveless, George Strait, Emmylou m.fl. Da Kostas forlod The House of Songs,i Austin, et sted hvor sangskrivere fra hele verden mødes og cowriter, hvor jeg boede i Austin i 12 dage både i 2015 og 2016, mens jeg cowritede sange, kunne jeg mærke, at noget stort havde ramt mig. Manden er en fantastisk sangskriver. Sangene er således udløbet af flere ting: Da jeg boede i The House of Songs, cowritede jeg med forskellige sangskrivere. Det gjorde mine sange efterhånden færdige. Jeg besøgte herefter en yngre producer 25 km uden for Austin, Texas. Han havde bygget sit eget studie og hedder Patrick Herzfeld. Han er supersej, flink og laver songwriterplader, elsker Ryan Adams og spiller trommer! Han fandt nogle meget åbensindede musikere til at understøtte mine nye sange. Han gjorde mit ophold i Texas nemmere med sin fleksible og venlige indstilling. I Texas har man en filosofi, der siger. If you work hard, you can make it. Og en lidt anden version har man vel af det i Danmark: Rom blev ikke bygget på en dag. Og det blev dette album heller ikke. En af sangene ”Crazy Love” er faktisk ti år gammel. En anden er fra 2014, da jeg boede to måneder i Spanien – den hedder Kun det gode. Andre er nyere fx ”Simple Matters” skrevet sammen med Kostas Lazarides i Montana og Austin samt ”Foreign Pines” med Johan Wagner i Austin og København. Endelig en anden stor milepæl: Samtidig med indspilningerne af albummet, genoptog jeg min kandidatgrad i Retorik, et studie, jeg havde afsluttet med en bachelor, 18 år tidligere efter et sidespring, der endte med en bachelor i filosofi. Jeg fik altimens ophold i Digterhjemmet på Fanø, Julius Bomholts gamle sommerhus i 2017 foråret, og det satte en proces i gang, hvor jeg lærte om Bomholt, den første kulturministers syn på kunstnere. Kunstneren afspejler folkets sjæl, mente Bomholt, og han så det som en demokratisk sag at give kunstneren frie arbejdsvilkår, idet deres frihed afspejler folkets frie vilje. Disse tanker gjorde mig mere bevidst om, hvor vigtig en fri debat er for os danskere. I september 2018 modtog jeg mit afsluttende retorik-eksamensbevis. Mit speciale handler om ”Gode vaner i offentlig debat”. Danmark har efter min overbevisning brug for et samtaledemokrati for at genskabe tilliden til vores folkevalgte politikere – gerne med humor – for det er den korteste afstand mellem to mennesker, som Victor Borge engang har sagt. Jeg håber med mine optrædener og mine fortællinger med et glimt i øjet at være med til at påvirke debatten i en positiv retning. For mig at se er musik en af de stærkeste veje til at kommunikere med hinanden. Tænk, hvad det kan blive til, når man holder hjertet åbent: De enkle ting, som ”Simple Matters” handler om, er bare ikke så lette at gå til, som vi gerne vil det. Men vi må blive ved at prøve. Med ønske om, at du vil nyde albummet og komme til mine fremtidige koncerter, ønskes du en dejlig dag! Mange hilsner Mette Kirkegaard

Diskografi

Simple Matters (2018) – 13. oktober ****Gaffa og four hearts**** Politiken

I’m Alive – (2018) – single 3. maj

Love is to Blame & Heaven – dobbelt single (2017)

If You Want my Love – (2016) – high life afro singleo

DET DU ikke SIGER (2014) Roman (2015) trykt bog A. Busck

Det rette sted (2013) Epo Superhelt (2012) Single

Dry Wood (2011) ****Gaffa

o Trådløse drømme (2009) Albumo Heart Against Rock (2007) Albumo In a Cafe (2006) Single o In Your Eyes (2002) demo o London Underground Cure (2000) demo

Videoer til albumsange:

Love is to Blame (2017)Info om single Superhelt (2012)Info video om ep i Berlin (2011)Dont Make Me Choose (2010) Da vi var elskere (2009) på chartbases hitlisteArkiv: https://mettekirkegaard.com/presse/Anmeldelser: https://mettekirkegaard.com/anmeldelser/Bio: https://mettekirkegaard.com/koncerter/www.mettekirkegaard.com

About the album: “Simple Matters”– The release Oct 13th 2018 marks several milestones:

New songs written with the legendary Kostas Lazarides, who has written songs with country music stars such as Patty Loveless, George Strait, The Mavericks, and others. The House of Songs in Austin, is a place where songwriters from all over the world meet and cowrite. I lived there in Austin in 12 days both in 2015 and 2016. When Kostas left the house I could feel that something big had happened This man is an amazing songwriter. These songs are the result of several influences. When I was in The House of Songs, I cowrote with different songwriters. After that I visited a younger producer, living about 20 miles outside Austin, Texas. Patrick Herzfeld who had built his own studio. He is a super cool guy, producing songwriter albums, he loves Ryan Adams and plays the drums! He found some very nice musicians to support my new songs. He made my stay in Texas easier with a flexible and friendly setting. In Texas people have a philosophy that says: If you work hard, you can make it. A slightly different version of it in Denmark is: Rome was not built in a day and the album wasn’t either. One of the songs “Crazy Love” is actually 10 years old. Another is from 2014, when I lived two months in Spain – it’s called ”Only the good”. Others are more recent fx “Simple Matters” written together with Kostas Lazarides in Montana and Austin, as well as “Foreign Pines” with Johan Wagner in Austin and Copenhagen.Finally, another great milestone: at the same time as the recording of the album, I resumed my master’s degree in Rhetoric, an education I had finished with a bachelor’s degree, 18 years earlier, and later a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. I also was given a temporary stay in a Poet home on Fanø, Digterhjemmet which previously belonged to the first Minister of Cultural affairs in Denmark, Julius Bomholt, in the Spring 2017, and it set a process in motion, where I learned about the first culture minister’s vision for artists. The artist reflects the people’s soul Julius Bomholt thought and he saw it as a worthy course to give the artist democratically free working conditions. In September 2018 I received my final Rhetoric-diploma. My thesis is about “Good habits in Public Debate”. Denmark has, in my view, a need for a better conversational democracy in order to restore confidence in our elected politicians – preferably with humor — because it is the shortest distance between two people, as the Danish comedian Victor Borge once said. I hope with my performances and my stories with some sense of humour to contribute and influence the debate in a positive direction. It seems to me that music is one of the strongest ways to communicate with each other. Just imagine what our society can become, when you hold the heart open: the simple things, like “Simple Matters” is the story about the things that aren´t as easy as we’d like them to be. We must keep on trying though. I really hope that you will enjoy the album and attsend my future concerts. Have a nice day!With my regards, Mette KirkegaardDiscography English:Songwriter and singer Mette has travelled and performed in Berlin, Tokyo, London, Italy, she’ s also lived periodically in Rome, England and New York City, crossed many states in the US. 2018 Oct – release if the album Simple Matters album recorded in Austin, Texas 2018 May – single Im Still Alive 2017 Love is to Blame – video and single 2014 What you dont say – novel 2013 “The Right Place” Danish release – recorded in London, Livingston Studios, producer Ken Rose 2012 Playing Tønder festival (Hausgaard-show) 2011 EP Dry Wood Berlin songs produced bý Brio Taliaferro (Blunt, Dico, Sugarbabes) 2009 Danish album Trådløse Drømme (iTunes) 2007 Debut album Heart Against Rock (itunes) 2006 Single In a Cafe. (iTunes)