The fairly bizarrely-named Foreign Slippers, AKA Gabrielle Frödén, is a Swedish singer-songwriter – and currently, a pretty obscure one. But on the basis of this EP, Oh Death, I for one wouldn’t bet against her fragile arrangements and beautiful voice helping her become more widely known.

These five songs are sparse – small, fairly brief tales of heartache, dreaming, and meditations on (unsurprisingly) death. These tales are heard from that aforementioned voice, and wrapped up in delicate piano, subtle acoustic guitar, gently brushed drums, and intermittent washes of strings, along with all kinds of other fragile instrumental touches. The pace is steady across the EP - a kind of slow, meditative journeying feel, although “Don’t Go” does have a curious, waltzing lilt to it. This isn’t a record that makes big, bold statements – neither lyrically nor musically – but it does have an intoxicating, quiet appeal. This is the kind of music that should given the fullness of your intention, so that its uncomplicated, pretty instrumentation and Frödén’s warm, versatile voice can shine through. Continue Reading