Edda Magnason OST Monica Z

As a child in rural Fyledalen in southern Sweden, Magnason would compose songs on the piano and dreamed of being a concert pianist. She broke off her composition studies at the Gotland Composition School in 2004 in order to learn by doing, and has developed a strong, personal voice: jazz/pop music with classical elements, and whimsical lyrics. "Woman Travels Alone" follows her début album "Edda Magnason" (2010, Caprice) and "Goods" (2011, Adrian Recordings).
It's difficult to meet an artist who matches Magnason’s gushing enthusiasm. And her dedication evidently made an impression on Per Fly, the director of "Waltz For Monica", the movie that changed her life. She started working on the album right after leaving the set almost two years ago, and her sudden fame has given her own career a significant boost. Without the success, she acknowledges humbly, she wouldn’t have had access to the resources – the top-level professionals – which she has now. The same goes for the audience. "Waltz For Monica" became the most viewed Swedish film in 2013, also scoring a Guldbagge (the Swedish equivalent of the Oscar statuette) for best actress.
Why did it take so long to finish the album? Well, the media hype got in the way: a media hype nearly unprecedented for someone of her youth. This included being chosen as a Shooting Star at the Berlin Film Festival, which resulted in a contract with a Hollywood agency. Suffice it to say, there was very little time left to just be Edda Magnason, the singer-songwriter, during this time. Even more so while shooting the film. »I had no relationship to Monica Zetterlund’s music before the film,« Magnason says. Strangely enough, her mother gave her a CD of Zetterlund shortly before she was offered the role, accompanied by the words »I think you should listen to this.« And so she did, soon spending all her time trying to imitate the legendary star.
For those unfamiliar with Monica Zetterlund, this blonde, svelte jazz singer is associated with the Swedish artistic blossoming of the 1960s and 1970s. Zetterlund performed with American and European jazz greats such as Thad Jones and the Bill Evans Trio, as well as acting in cabarets and films with comedian team HasseåTage, controversial director Vilgot Sjöman and others. A string of love affairs and the difficulties of being a single mother weighed her down, and an intense career came to a halt when the singer became addicted to alcohol. The last days of her career Zetterlund performed sitting in a wheel chair, until in 2005 she succumbed to the flames of a fire in her apartment caused by a cigarette.