Oh Land Of Hope & Glory

The latest female electro-pop contender on the block is 26 year-old Danish singer Nanna Fabricius Oland, aka Oh Land, who releases her self-titled second album (her first having been released on a Danish indie label) at the start of September. With the record having already seen some action on the Billboard charts and with a series of Katy Perry support slots lined up, Oh Land will no doubt have to contend with scores of Lady Gaga comparisons. However, Nanna is taking it all in her stride.

“I don’t think I’m anything like that,” she replies. “But I think what we have in common is a strong sense of our own world, not just what it sounds like but also what it looks like. That’s why people draw comparisons, but the music and the aesthetics are completely different. Even though my music is electronic, there’s a strong organic element, and something very classic in it – I use a lot of string quartets and choir harmonies. The way I build songs, and use chords and melodies, it’s actually very church-like, with a strong gospel influence.”
Oh Land is also noted for her elaborate stage shows, which make strong use of lights, props and choreography.

“It’s very audio-visual,” nods Nanna. “There’s me, a drummer and keyboard-player, and with everything we play, there’s a MIDI that triggers a projector, which is in sync with what we play. It’s a fun visual experience. Things can get a bit tough logistically, especially during those gigs where you only have a one-minute line-check. It’s tricky to pull off something like that, but I think we’re finding our way. We’ve been looking at different ways to adapt, so we’re always learning as we go along, but it’s still a lot of fun when it comes off.”
Oh Land’s big break came at last year’s SXSW, which ended with her being signed to a major label. Since then, the singer has had a non-stop schedule of touring and promotion, and indeed at her return to SXSW earlier this year, she played a phenomenal 11 shows in four days.

“We were releasing my album in the US at the time,” recalls Nanna. “We officially played the most gigs at SXSW! I had to find new ways of existing (laughs). For instance, I’ve never before slept three times during the day, not since I was a baby. But for every show at SXSW this year I had to just power nap, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do it. It was like training for a marathon. We got offered so many slots, and there were all so good that we felt like we couldn’t say ‘no’. And also, I am by nature a very efficient person; when I commit to something, I want to get the most out of it.”
So nearly six months after its release, how does Nanna now think of Oh Land?
“The album is like a ‘welcome to my world’, which is why I called it Oh Land,” she responds. “On this album I show all the sides to me; I first show an optimistic side, and then I show another side which is more dark and melancholic. Basically, I give everything, and it’s very much an album of extremes, because it covers everything that happened in the three years I wrote it, which was a lot. It’s a door into my world.”