Searching for Brilliant Hands

In 2004, when Gustav released his first album Vagabonds Polka, he wrote about the dream of traveling. This time he conveys his experience of making those dreams come true. All 10 tracks on Brilliant Hands were written on the road and the track Tigers and Kittens was even recorded while touring - in Pittsfield, New Hampshire USA.

The sound of the album is bright and folky, somewhat resembling the approach of his debut. But Brilliant Hands, also produced by Gustav himself, clearly displays a more serious and mature songwriter; one who can unravel the finer nuances of heartache as well as expressing the simple joy of being alive. By fully trusting the strength of his material and effectively stripping the arrangements, he manages to let the songs speak for themselves. And thus the album recounts the different handshakes, voices, smells and people that Gustav has ecountered during his travels.

In January 2007 Gustav left his sailors back home and went to USA and Canada for a 3-month tour with vocalist and cellist Helena Arlock. They performed 52 shows all over the continent, starting off in New York, and managed to drive coast to coast in less than three days.

As Gustav returned to Sweden he gathered The Seasick Sailors and began working on the new record. But things did not go smoothly. Trumpet player Johan Olsson left the group. And meanwhile Gustav felt that the material did not come together as a whole. The songs were written the year before and now they seemed out of place. So instead of banging his head against the wall he dropped the recording sessions and instead went on another 3-months tour, in Europe this time. New songs were written and perspectives gathered.

Back home in December 2007 Gustav threw away most of the material already recorded and replaced it with newly written songs. Gustav invited some guest musicians to the studio; like Malissa Larson from USA (who found Gustav on the streets of New York and let him crash on her floor), and Swedish Singer/Songwriter Thomas Denver Jonsson, as well as the bunch of friends who are singing along on the track Sing it out. And this time it all came together perfectly. The missing pieces had been found.

Brilliant Hands will be released in Scandinavia September 26 on the label Marilyn Records. In October GATSS will be leaving for a new tour in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium and Gustav continues his search for brilliant hands

by: Karl Peder Gravlund