Swedish duo The Tiny managed to fit the French Les Femmes S'en Mêlent festival into their busy tour schedule. Photo: Julien Bourgeois

The Tiny’s music is a compelling hybrid of melodious and melancholic folk and powerful pop. The songs, combining Ellekari’s soft-spoken and honest voice with sweeping strokes of the cello, linger on the listener’s mind long after the music has finished.

“I try to avoid describing the music myself,” singer and pianist Ellekari says. “That way it’s easier to just let the creativity flow and not focus too much on the final result.”

Ellekari grew up surrounded by music. Her father was a musician, so she often followed him on tours; it was only natural that she started singing and playing instruments.

Since his classic schooling at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, cellist Leo Svensson has enjoyed songwriting and collaborations with a number of musicians, like Nicolai Dunger and The Concretes.

Trusting the gut feeling

Forming The Tiny was an obvious and heartfelt decision. To finance their 2004 debut, Close Enough, Ellekari sold her apartment. Being led by intuition is courageous but risky — and luckily the right choice in this case.

“Yes, trusting the gut is important,” Ellekari says. “An economist would go mad, though. Gut feeling... no!”

The Tiny received great reviews for their beautiful and mellow compositions, and along with the attention came an enthusiastic fan base. So, how important is their relationship with their fans?

“It’s extremely important,” Ellekari says. “You need that response to feel that your work matters to someone; also because it’s difficult to be your own critic.”

Leo Svensson and Ellekari Larsson tend to follow their own hearts and intuitions. Photo: Julien Bourgeois

International collaborations

After releasing their second album, Starring: Someone Like You, they took a break from writing and went touring with fellow Swede Anna Ternheim. When they returned, so did the creativity and the urge to record new songs.

The result was Gravity & Grace, released in 2009 and co-produced by former Talk Talk member Paul Webb. His name came up when they discussed the coming album with their bassist, Johan Berthling from Swedish record label Häpna. Why shy away from the opportunities of working with your idols, right?

“I don’t think that we have ever restricted ourselves when it comes to collaborations,” Ellekari says. “We don’t think of anyone as too ‘big’ or inaccessible. Let’s just see what Paul Webb is up to. I mean, who knows?”

This fearless attitude has also led to collaborations with international acts like Ed Harcourt, The Magic Numbers, Martha Wainwright and Ane Brun — just to name a few.

Meeting the audience

The band’s success has led to touring and more touring; The Tiny has performed on stages all over the map. But what happens once they step out of the studio to play the music live?

“It’s about that certain connection that you can’t get from an album,” Leo says. “You make a deal with the audience, for the next hour it’s you and us.”

“It’s about letting go of everything else,” Ellekari adds. “Being able to commit to the moment and really ‘be present.’”

The Tiny's Ellekari and Leo like to live in the moment and leave some room for spontaneity in their busy tour schedule. Photo: Luger

One of the stops in 2010 is the Les Femmes S’en Mêlent festival in France, alongside Swedish colleagues Taxi Taxi! and Jenny Wilson. What do they think their audience looks like?

“It’s very broad and diverse; both indie pop teens and grey-haired adults can show up at our gigs,” Ellekari says. “In Sweden we have a very loyal crowd that we love performing for; they’ve followed us from the beginning.”

Home, sweet Stockholm

Being on the road may be great, but what’s better than touring your home town? I ask the couple how they would spend an ideal day in Stockholm and it begins with breakfast at their local café in Årsta, a suburb south of Stockholm, followed by a walk around the adjacent lake (which is actually a tiny gulf connected to Sweden’s third largest lake, Mälaren, editor’s note).

After that, Leo proposes a lunch at a classic bar/restaurant, Gondolen. “Delicious food and that splendid panorama view,” he says.

The optimistic time plan then leads to the art venue Liljevalchs and many more “fika” stops, meaning: coffee breaks — in this case including blueberry pie. But as the night falls they prefer to be spontaneous. “Yes, going for a drink. See what happens,” Ellekari says. “You don’t want to plan too much.”

Sounds good. After all, the best of pop has sprung from moments of unexpected spontaneity. Looks like yet another great decade for these gifted Swedes.

Elena Tillman Sperandio

Elena Tillman Sperandio is a freelance writer. She studies media and communication in her home town, Stockholm, where she, too, enjoys touristy escapades. Recent discovery: the spring!