There’s an old motif, used in paintings for hundreds of years, that depicts life as a series of ascending and descending steps, each one representing a decade. It starts from birth, peaks at the age of 50 and then descends toward death at 100. In Swedish it’s called “Ålderstrappan” (The staircase of life). Growing up I have seen this picture countless times, as we had a variant of it in the hallway of my childhood home. I remember how far it seemed, reaching the top of those stairs, and it wasn’t something I was particularly looking forward to. However, since the release of this album will coincide with my 50th birthday, I am actually there. So, does that mean I’m currently at the peak of my life and career? Is it all downhill from now on? Well, at least I can say I do enjoy this phase of life. There’s a lot to look back on, a lot going on and a lot to look forward to. And to that, I think there are even greater things up ahead than before. So, I’m not so sure about the accuracy of that old painting. Let’s just have a big party celebrating life, the people in it and whatever makes you happy. And keep ascending!

Starting with David Bowie’s classic Let’s dance, the tone is set for the rest of the album. This record is a little more rock-oriented than the previous one, as evidenced by the next track – Fire by Jimi Hendrix. It’s a song that fits the duo perfectly, and it only took one take to lay it down. In choosing songs, we have so far limited ourselves not to go beyond the 90s. Wonderwall, released by Oasis in 1995 is our most modern song so far. Although, it has been given a more retro-style arrangement. You can always count on a Dolly Parton song to liven up a party and 9 To 5 is such a nice tune to groove on and go a little wild with. Playing pedal bass, a true trial by fire is certainly to do Billie Jean. But once you’ve got it down, it’s a lot of fun, especially when backed up by a solid beat. Most of the songs in this project are not usually associated with the Hammond organ, and that’s part of the idea. Although, it sure is fun to do some organ classics as well, like Highway Star, and to do the whole song and not just Jon Lord’s iconic solo. I still get chills every time I play the intro of In The Stone and the groove following it is so hip. The late 60s is kind of a sweet spot for this project, and we both love the Beatles, so Come Together just had to be included. When covering Tina Turner, there´s a long list of songs to choose from. When I was growing up in the 80s, Typical Male was the one most played on the radio and it has stuck with me ever since. And as the party winds down, you have to end with a slow dance – Paul Simon’s beautiful Still Crazy After All These Years.

With that, I hope you have enjoyed our second Orgelparty Pop Edition album. If it in any way brightened your day, I feel my mission has been accomplished.

Sincerely, Andreas Hellkvist