Effective period / Period of releases: 2018

Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
With a voice that maneuvers effortlessly from a heartrending intimacy to a matter-of-life-and-death roar, Lars Ekengren challenges the very best at delivering a song in a way that leaves no one untouched.
Native of Örnsköldsvik, a small town on the coast of northern Sweden, Ekengren grew up to the sound of Ronnie James Dio coming from a cassette player and his father playing jazz trumpet in the basement.
Though an engineer by trade, music has been the common thread in Ekengren’s life. In the late 00’s he started performing with original songs, often colored by his five-year stay in the US in the early decade. Following the state win in a song contest hosted by Swedish radio in 2013, his entry song ”153 More Days” got a fair share of airtime and the growing of a fan base slowly started.
In 2015 came his debut release, the live-feel EP ”Dirt”, which was well received and served as a stepping stone for landing opening gigs for acts such as Drew Holcomb, Uncle Lucius and The Thousand Dollar Playboys.
Ekengren’s debut album ”Monsters” (2018) is a gracefully arranged and well produced collection of songs that certainly brings more to mind than a middle-aged engineer from a small town in the north of Sweden. Blurring the lines between pop, rock and alt-country, ”Monsters” showcases Ekengren’s acute sense for an infectious melody, his powerful lyrical imagery, and – much thanks to his vocals – a persistent energy that this genre of music is not spoiled with.
Reflecting on ”Monsters”, Ekengren says: ”It has taken my entire life to write this album – both literally and figuratively. It’s a collection of songs that echoes of fear, pain, happiness, sorrow, love, memories, hopelessness, confusion, resignation, hope, anxiety, alienation … well, pretty much everything and anything that fits into one’s existence. Despite it being my first album – it’s my legacy, of some sort.”.