“I’ve waited ten years for this gig!”
Anders Wendin had no intentions of hiding his excitement that evening. At Debaser Strand, around 400 people gathered to see what’s happened to Sweden’s most heartbreakingly honest songwriter and artist. Perhaps out of curiosity: what’s Anders Wendin going to do now? Some may have been there out of pure love for what Moneybrother stood for, hoping that the switch in language and stage name isn’t going to be too far from the Moneybrother days. And I would say they are all probably right. And wrong. Because even though you have several, apparent similarities – it still is the same person writing and performing songs with the same mindset as before – the stage persona of Anders Wendin seems closer to the private Wendin than Moneybrother did. Even though the first two albums Moneybrother released, Blood Panic and To Die Alone, were two of the most candid accounts of song writing even presented in the Swedish musical climate, this time Anders Wendin was more revealing than ever.
When I interviewed Anders a couple of weeks ago, before the album came out, I was curious if he experienced any apparent differences while writing in Swedish instead of English. He then told me that he did try to find his writing self in Swedish, and to do so he simply wanted the way he talked, in every day conversations, to now shine through in his songs.
Inviting some old band members, mixed with a bunch of new one’s, Anders Wendin took over Debaser Strand, in front of a crowd that was unwilling to do anything but support and love the artist formerly known as Moneybrother stood like a sea of love for Anders to dive into. Because even though the album was recorded using minimalistic equipment, followed by an equally minimalistic tour of some larger cities in Sweden, the love and praise Dom ska få se vem dom roat sig med has received is definitely worth every word.
There really is no doubt that Anders Wendin loves doing this. The joy is unmistakable at Strand. Anders and the band are connected through the old and new sounds of his back catalog, which makes for a great show that keeps the audience attention throughout. From the great reminiscent track Min kompis farsa betalade svart to the lovely acoustic guitar harmonica mash-up 1952, it brings forth a feeling that it wasn’t just writing the music for the album that was soul-searching; the live performances are as well. The decision to bring back some old band mates on horn is absolutely brilliant. There’s no Anders Wendin without horns.
On the album, apart from maybe one or two songs, there’s a new and fresh approach. Even though Anders Wendin’s voice involuntarily brings to mind the days of Moneybrother, I for one could see several albums being released in Swedish with great success. Because even though the significance Moneybrother has had for the past decade, Anders Wendin has himself waited over ten years to do this. So let’s let him enjoy this for another ten years.
