Christmas has really come early with all that Swedish singer/songwriter Charlotte Eriksson is offering us. Our new artist of the year has just released her second, stellar EP. This Is How Ghosts Are Made to rave reviews. Not bad for a young girl who moved from her native Sweden to London in an effort to get herself out there when she was just 19. Not bad at all. Now those fans who have purchased the ‘Deluxe Box’ edition of the Glass Child’s smashing new release can unwrap an extra special gift, four bonus tracks under the EP name Songs For An Insomniac.
If you think tracks like Tell The World and The Devil’s Sin off This Is How Ghosts Are Made are great, then you haven’t heard anything yet. These ‘Insomniac’ tales begin with Insomnia, an awakening, evocative track were Charlotte hums lulling harmonies over sweet strums. “Too slow/will this night ever end/I’m avoiding/your side of the bed/and the wind is/screaming your name” she sings with mid-night hour beauty.
Then on Blood On The Concrete The Glass Child tells us a tragic, moving tale which reaches new depths. Painting the picture of a family, singing; “Then there’s Sarah a little quiet/only wants one thing/to get to know her Dad he left when she was young/he even took her mother’s wedding ring” anyone with real heart will be hard pressed not to shed tears with every strum and stroke of this artist’s brush.
On Shades Eriksson laments lost contact with a friend, but from the beautiful way she writes and the way she sings it’s clear the devotion of true friendship is still bonded. “You always used to say/life will find a way”, she repeats, remembering it all. As she sings “there’s something in the way/people look at me these days/like they know I’ve lost my fire/like they know I’ve lost my way”, however, it’s clear to hear this notion isn’t true. This hot talent’s shine is still burning bright. Charlotte Eriksson has found her life’s own way.
I packed my life in a bag Eriksson sings to start the final, fitting track Leaving and Never Coming Back. The courageous, honest singer reveals yet another real personal side of her as she tells us the story behind her leaving home. It doesn’t get much deeper, realer or more poignantly beautiful than this. “This town has taken too much from me/oh I think I failed my youth”. As The Glass Child stares right at success, she isn’t afraid to reflect on the troubles of her past to make her stronger. Now how many young women in their twenties are that brave? This emotion of hers is as strong as her beautiful voice or her genuinely heartfelt lyrics. With a “one way ticket in her hand” Charlotte Eriksson AKA The Glass Child is on the path to success and there’s no looking back. It’s only up from here.
Tim Harvey is a Music Feeds UK Correspondent
