Kongero

Thank you for the music! Time to say thank you and to celebrate!

For 15 years now Swedish all-female vocal folk quartet Kongero have been singing traditional Scandinavian songs in self-penned arrangements and the best a cappella tradition. But Lotta Andersson, Emma Björling, Anna Larsson and Anna Wikenius are also skilled in composing on their own, including setting poems to music. The ensemble took its name – meaning “spider” in English – from a regional dialect of their home area, the province of Jämtland in northern Sweden.

“Kongero bring Scandinavian traditional music into the 21st century,” the international press is raving and comparing the ensemble to their fellow countrymen The Real Group. Five studio albums the four Swedes have to their name so far while consistently seeking to pass on their knowledge and experience in regular workshops. They came together in 2005 when the original members all attended a Nordic folk music conference.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Kongero are making a present both to themselves and to their many fans all around the world by releasing a live album that has them look back with gratitude and happiness on their many concerts in Europe, North America and Asia. In the liner notes to Live In Longueuil they write:

“For 15 years we have been writing music, exploring and singing traditional Swedish songs, breathing new life into them and painting them in our favourite colours to let them enter our hearts and bring them onto the streets. Together we have walked both metaphorically and literally through rain, snow, storm and sunshine, over mountains, through valleys, across meadows and along beaches. We have seen the biggest cities and the smallest villages. And we have loved it all! We feel truly blessed to have met so many wonderful people and seen so many beautiful places on our journey so far. And we hope for many more tours to come. This album has captured a moment in time, one concert among thousands, one day in our lives.”

Live In Longueuil was recorded in 2019 at the Théâtre de la Ville in the idyllic town of Longueuil on the Saint Lawrence River in the Canadian province of Québec. On this electrifying album Kongero show just how broad their repertoire is performing pieces from pastoral songs and groovy polkas to pagan sun prayers and heartfelt love songs. As a special treat the singers also included “Vila Stilla” in their acclaimed Longueuil concert, a traditional folk song from Québec, which they rendered in their very own way with new Swedish lyrics.

“Terrific. Like camping out in a Swedish forest and hearing tales of joy, love, sadness, errant cattle, Estonian islands & too many beers. Kongero made the audience’s heart sing with their soaring, blended vocal dexterity and charm”, Adrian Mealing of UK Touring applauds. Also American-Israeli music journalist Jeff Meshel is full of praise: „This group is a revelation. The beauty of the four voices is equaled only by the pristine, flawless arrangements. They provide a stunning example of a marriage between the traditional and the innovative.”