FMQ – The musical legacy of Tove Jansson

Tove continues to inspire new music

For singer-songwriter Désirée Saarela, Tove Jansson has been a beacon. Her artistic proliferation and bold life philosophy have informed Saarela’s album Annanland [Otherland]. Inspired by visual art, it is Saarela’s ninth full-length album to date, focusing on the importance of art as a means for understanding life.

“It wasn’t until I came across Tove that I finally dared call myself an artist and assume that mantle with pride. She helped me understand that it doesn’t matter whether you paint a picture or make music; it all comes out of the same creative power,” she says.

Saarela mentions a visit to Jansson’s studio in Helsinki as a formative experience in her artistic process. “I sat down on the floor with my guitar and began to play. It was one of the most magical moments in my life, singing in the room where she had painted for decades. For me, music is a way of breathing and of comprehending the world, just as art was for Tove.”

Her visit and her research resulted in the track ‘Tove’ on Annanland, a reflection of the atmosphere of the studio and of Jansson’s texts. “In a letter, she wrote: ‘Today I am outside of time’. I quoted this in the song.”

https://www.fmq.fi/articles/the-musical-legacy-of-tove-jansson