The notoriously media-shy musician has agreed to a stage conversation with music journalist Jan Gradvall at a cinema in Stockholm ahead of the album release and obediently answers questions from reporters in the cinema's foyer afterwards.
The album "Längtan till våren", Winnerbäck's fifteenth, will be released on September 25 and, as both the title and the cover image suggest, is aimed at brighter times.
–The world is hopeless, so that has to be included. But I still wanted to be able to describe it with some kind of light feeling and a little humor, almost a little ridiculous at times, he says.
I can see the world quite darkly, but I actually don't think that's a fair picture of me...
Recorded in France
The texts are, in true Winnerbäck spirit, personal reflections on the present, written in a kind of diary form. They discuss everyday anxiety, aging, gang violence, visits to Skansen with his daughter, quotes for pipes that need replacing, and friends who have started playing golf.
The album was recorded with a seven-piece band at a manor house in Provence.
"We thought that the south of France in early spring might not be so bad and it wasn't. It was like a dream actually. It was a very special place, we had incredibly good food and the only thing I was standing there thinking was that I have to write songs a little more often and a little faster so we can get there again," says Winnerbäck.
But now I don't know if we'll get there again because there is now a total ban on snus in France, he adds, laughing.
Severe writing cramp
But the road to recording was, according to Lars Winnerbäck, more challenging than usual, with a paralyzing writing cramp.
Yes, mine might be the worst ever, but I say that every time...
I wrote "Hälsningar", which was released as a single, quite early on - at least halfway through. Then I thought I would keep writing, but for a year nothing more came. There wasn't a single song, not a single line that I felt satisfied with, he says.
Looking for the social
This fall, Winnerbäck and his band will embark on an arena tour with gigs in Sweden and Norway.
I'm really looking forward to it. It's become an increasingly important part of life, he says, and explains that it used to be the writing that was the fun and being on stage was more of a necessary evil.
Now it's the other way around, I'm actually more into the social side. Now I write songs quite a bit because I feel like coming out and playing, hanging out with the band and the audience, he tells TT.
23/10 Linköping, 24/10 Eskilstuna, 30/10 Örebro, 31/10 Gävle, 6/11 Gothenburg, 7/11 Malmö, 13/11 Karlstad, 14/11 Halmstad, 21/11 Stockholm, 27/11 Trondheim, 28/11 Oslo.
