Paste Magazine Daily Dose: Daniel Norgren, ‘Rolling Rolling Rolling’
Wooh Dang. That’s the title of Swedish musician Daniel Norgren’s new album, his first international release, and it’s also an onomatopoeia for the audible reaction I had upon hearing his rambling, atmospheric folk music for the first time. Norgren cast a spell over Europe years ago—he regularly sells out his tours there, sometimes in minutes. But his enveloping, golden-tinged music is only now finding a home here in the U.S., thanks to a few well-received Pickathon appearances and a growing folkie fanbase. Wooh Dang is out April 19 on Superpuma Records., and it’s streaming early over at NPR. The third single, “Rolling Rolling Rolling” will debut everywhere today (April 12), but the first listen is premiering here at Paste. Listen to “Rolling Rolling Rolling” below.
Norgren recorded the album last fall in a single room inside a 19th century farmhouse nestled in the woods near his home in Southwest Sweden. He says it was “full of good, inspiring mustiness, creaking wooden floors, scary old portrait paintings on the walls, and an old, black German piano which I used in all the songs.””Rolling Rolling Rolling,” a gorgeous, ambling folk song, was born right there on an especially sunny day. “For me usually melodies come first,” Norgren says. “This one came about while I was thinking about Phil Cook and being on tour with him. A fun thing to record as well…sunny day…one of the first songs we tried out in the house…Lots of good things happened on that day.”
There’s a warm, lived-in feeling to the song. A gospel choir provides heavenly backup as Norgren sings, “I’ve been waiting so long for the train to come back / rolling, rolling, rolling down the line,” sounding like a more subdued Eric Clapton. Norgren and his band, made up of longtime friends Anders Grahn (bass), Erik Berntsson (drums), and Andreas Filipsson (guitar and banjo), bring an undeniably hospitable energy to the record. Wooh Dang feels like a personal invitation into that cozy farmhouse.
Again, you can listen to “Rolling Rolling Rolling” below. Keep scrolling for the Wooh Dang album art and Daniel Norgren’s European tour dates. Keep an eye out for Norgren’s North American tour, which will be announced later this month and include stops in New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, St. Paul, Nashville, Louisville, Asheville, Washington, D.C., Boulder, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles this September and October.
Daniel Norgren Tour Dates:
April
27 – Göteborg, Sweden @ Pustervik –
28 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Cirkus
29 – Borås, Sweden @ Åhaga
30 – Sundsvall, Sweden @ Tonhallen
May
02 – Luleå, Sweden @ Kulturens hus
03 – Umeå, Sweden @ Norrlandsoperan
04 – Gävle, Sweden@ Gävles Konserthus
05 – Göteborg, Sweden@ Konserthuset
18 – Copenhagen, Denmark@ Vega
19 – Hamburg, Germany@ Uebel & Gefarhrlich
20 – Amsterdam, Netherlands@ Paradiso
21 – Antwerpen, Belgium@ De Roma
23 – Cologne, Germany@ Stadtgarten
24 – Berlin, Germany@ Festsaal
26 – Oslo, Norway@ Sentrum Scene