As a true multitalent, Maxida Märak always bridges music, activism and performance. The latest chapter of her musical journey brings us her covers and reimaginings of some classic Swedish ballads, or visor. And we got to experience many of those live at the legendary movie theatre Bio Skandia.
Maxida Märak often includes jojk, the free-flowing and emotive Sámi vocal tradition, as an integral part of her works. She is known for combining these traditional Sámi elements with modern genres, such as hip hop and electronic sounds. Her latest album Lånat (“Borrowed”) that came out this past summer took a new turn, however, and included her singing her renditions of some classic Swedish folk ballads, or visor, which build strongly on the storytelling aspect.
She brought a set based mainly on these cover songs of hers to Bio Skandia, as part of their concert series in cooperation with FKP Scorpio. This classic 100-year-old movie theatre was saved through a crowd-funding campaign for Stockholm Film Festival. The magnificent settings provided a suitable backdrop to Maxida’s emotional delivery, paired with her own story-telling in between songs.
Ever since Maxida first caught our eye she has made as much of an impression with the things she says as she does with her music. The narrative is always strong with her, so she linked the songs of the evening to her own personal stories about heartbreaks and worries as a parent, to her Sámi heritage and losing a generation that has raised her, to her activism and her fight against the mining giants, as well as criticism of the current government and the extraordinary times we are living in.
The setlist included everything from Kent‘s Sverige to Fred Åkerström‘s Jag ger dig min morgon and Vargsången from Astrid Lindgren‘s Ronja the Robber’s Daughter. She also included her latest Jag ska bli hel, and her yet-to-be-released Vintervisa. She ended with a very emotional NikeSunnas Joik, dedicated to her daughter.
All in all, a very different experience from Maxida’s usual high-energy shows, and very emotional in the way she was baring her soul to the audience that was listening to her every word very intently.
All photos © Nina Uddin
