Leneh, the singer

Leneh, the songwriter

Leneh, the lecturer

"Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk. She says I began to sing long before I could talk..." For Leneh that lyric from Abbas hit song "Thank you for the music" is really true. As a child and a teenager Leneh took every posibility to sing in different choirs and show companies. She was often put on a table as a child to sing (without no protest from Leneh) some of the songs she knew by heart; "I was in love with a man, from Texas he was, I was in love, I was nearly at my final goooooaaaal!" combined with all the Abbasongs and the hymns from childrens choir.... As a teenagers she participated in some singing talent competitons and won some of them. Winning or not - what she really won to bring with her from the competitions was to be more and more skilled in singing in microphone and to sing together with musicians that was new to her and last - not to be afraid to go on stage...

Lessons in classical guitar became after a period of time singing, singing and even more singing... Learning how to play guitar and later on also piano became very important to Leneh when she started to make her own songs. When she studied music in Uppsala and Stockholm she learned, among a lot of other things more about classical music, jazz, swedish folk music, music history and anthropology, composing and arranging music.

As she liked music in all kinds of forms and genre, she had a hard time finding out what she would focus on. When she was given the advise to choose ONE genre for her career she often said: - Yeees, but I just HAVE to try this new one first! So... she sang songs that followed the footsteps of Billie Holliday, Edith Piaf, Aretha Franklin and many, many more that leneh for a while fell musically in love with. After showering her self with Beatles - Stevie Wonder entered the scene and so on... Most of the living and nonliving composer was tested and tasted.

Leneh sang in a lot of different ensembles and groups hat had their heart in jazz, folk, pop, disco... Alla kinds of different choirs had Leneh as a member for a shorter or longer time. In church she sang hymns and gospel music. To some party dancing she sang jazz standard tunes and evergreens, on some other partys ther was anther kind of songs... All this time Leneh continued to write her own music. Ideas and songs were put in bookshelves. She did not ever sing them with the groups she participated in, cause she thought they didn't fit in ("but maybe I was just afraid of showing them what I have beeen writing then..."). Despite that fact, a longing to record her own music grew stronger and stronger.

Autumn 2007, after singing her music at a offical event for the first time, Leneh contacted the musician/producer Tomas Bodin (that Leneh knew had, as she put it "sensitive ears") to hear what he thought about her own music. She had chosen around 20 of her songs in swedish to be on the first album. Leneh was happy to hear that Tomas liked what he heard and that he wanted to produce the debut CD. They decided to make a full length CD with "real musicians". The adventure of creating "Här" ("Here") had taken a start!

The recording of the debutalbum was a very big challenge for Leneh in many ways. The most unexpected challenge was to "find her own voice". After many years of singing cover songs Leneh had learnt her self a lot of special tricks to sound in special ways and like certain singers. Producer Tomas Bodin had tell the singer Leneh to throw away the Celin Dion vibe or the this and that vibe... To leave every "right way" to sing and just to relax and SING was scary and liberating and wonderful. The fear came from "a feeling that it maybe wouldn't sound like anything if I sang with only my own voice". The delight came from a great feeling that appeared when she let everything just be... and it could sound like what ever came out really. It sounded like Leneh, finally.

As Leneh didn't have a her own band when she started the recordings, that gave some "free hands" for the arrangements. No special consideration was needed for the use of a certain instrument. All the thirteen songs have got there special vibe, and their special musical clothing.

Leneh is so happy and proud over her debut album. She likes to take this opportunity to, once again give credit to all of the fantastic musicians, producers, photographers and everybody that took part in the making. You'll find all the names on Leneh's MySpace Website.

Leneh writes all the music and lyrics from all kinds of inspiration and can't make something on demand or speculation. She is surprised, grateful and happy that other people can find joy, piece, comfort and inspiration through her music. And it fills her with strength for the challenges that right now lays ahead...