Laleh - Jag Är (Svart & Vit Marbled Vinyl LP)

Facts On the new album "Jag är," Laleh sees through the world - and herself - in a completely new way.

She has always been associated with hope and faith in the future, but here she also explores her own hopelessness and darkness. We meet a new side of the artist, where she is honest about how heavy both hope and anxiety can feel. There is a spiritual awakening on this album, a dimension that was not there before. Laleh has stared into the struggle between good and evil, and on the title track "Jag är" she chooses to believe in a creator: "Jag var skapad ifrån slutet till början, född med en tanke, nånting att göra."

She likens people to a seed - with an inherent plan - where you "are like a seed in the soil, you only need water, time and the sun," and in the ballad "Ett helt liv" she almost pleads: "Låt barnen få växa i fred och bli det dom är!"

For the first time, she also sings openly about darkness in a new way - about the anxiety that has haunted her like a storm ever since her debut album 20 years ago. On the new song "The Dark Side," she describes anxiety as a storm you have to wait out, while panic rushes over her and she sings calmly and composedly, "I'm panicking." But on the song "Det blir ljust igen," written after a nightmare, she notes that she has been afraid for almost her whole life: "Men ger jag efter mer, så blir jag ingenting sen."

In a way, Laleh has never been so vulnerable - or so honest. We see all sides: just like on the cover, where half of the face is in darkness and the other half in light. "Jag är" is a work that took three years to create. And now she is ready to show who she is.

Gatefold. 20-page booklet. Black/white marbled vinyl.