The Turning of the Tide’s “More than Bread Alone” is a work of art that reflects on societal issues in the flesh of sonic form. “We live on more than bread alone” echoes through the track in its most naked and honest from. “We live on hope, on dreams, on love”—simple words but hold the power of truth. There’s nothing more genuine than a human being speaking her/his truth about who she/he is and the basic condition one needs to be human. Everyone is pressured into the great chase of materialism and financial gain in order to survive. We enter the society like machines, earning a life in clocked time, but there’s more to us than making ends meet, than feeding our physical body—we live on hope, on dreams, on love—they are the very things that make us human.

Lotta Karlsson’s lyrics carry the power of truth with her anthemic, protest banner-like way of repetition. She doesn’t delve too deep on explicitly explain, because all the explanations needed are already embedded in the musical expression. Angsty, explosive, almost outrageous piano playing makes you sweat like the way Beethoven punches and pours his emotions into musical notes. “More than Bread Alone” has the most wrenching and emotive lines, having the long-enduring instrument screams and wails even more bitingly painful than noise-coiled electric guitar through distortion pedals.

The dark and melancholy undertone brings up a gothic aesthetic that is deeply evocative and introspective. The Swedish-Norwegian songwriter paints deep-rooted societal issues of materialism and exploitation perfectly, bearing a gloomy, dystopian feeling. Karlsson’s vocal is thought-provoking. Like swords and a deep gaze, she makes you reflect on the way you live your life. She makes you think of what humanity means.

The Turning of the Tide’s way of mending multiple genres is very unique. Pairing immersive percussion and atmospheric electronics along with silky, almost invisible but infectious pads, “More than Bread Alone” is deeply haunting. It’s expressionistic art the same time contemplative and emo. It evokes something very deep inside of you, though no words are necessarily spilled on the specifics.

Read our interview with Karlsson and learn more about The Turning of the Tide.

Punk Head: I love how you blend electronic, rock and classical into creating this introspective tunnel of music. How do you approach creating something new and familiar at the same time?

Lotta Karlsson: First, thank you for saying so! I think that it is not necessarily a decision as such. Maybe it was a subconscious decision, in that I have always had a rather...eclectic taste in music, listening to one genre one day and something completely different the next, always craving new impulses, new artists and songs. I think the algorithms in streaming services are working overtime trying to analyse what my tastes are, haha.

And so when creating, I guess I want to get that same feeling that I get when listening to music, to get something that is immediately recognisable and sparks an emotive quality, but it also has to contain something that I did not expect, however small.

PH: How do you stay inspired and motivated while experimenting boundaries in your art?

Karlsson: I guess I was born with a drive for music. I never get tired of working with it and rather feel there is not enough time to do all I want to. However, I’d say the most important thing to keep up my own inspiration to experiment is to feed the need for every new impulse, and to not get stuck in what “my” taste is. I go to lots of concerts, from classical to clubbing to latin to bulgarian to free-jazz, and always keep my ears open for small things in these that excite me. Likewise, I try to work with people from completely different musical backgrounds in order to be surprised by the way things turn out!

PH: Walk us through your writing and production process in creating The Turning of the Tide project?

Karlsson: I find that there are many different ways that songs arise. Sometimes, a few lucky times, they are just “there”, almost fully formed, with lyrics, harmonies, toplines, voicings within a very short time. Other times it is pure agony to get something out, and it feels like one long birthing struggle over a few weeks to complete a song. Sometimes a concept might arise which I want to write about, and I find the musical expression that seems fitting for the concept, sometimes it’s the other way around.

With “More than Bread Alone”, the first two chords, the first line of the lyrics, and with them the mood, came one day. It was also a topic that was very much on my mind at the time, as I was struggling to find out whether there was any value for others in me following the need to create and make music, rather than doing something “smarter” and more stable. I was also wondering if my art would have any value to anyone other than me. I think the song was a way to say to myself, and to anyone who might hear it, that life is too short to take the safe path, but especially, that your worth cannot be measured in statistics, in facts or in numbers. That you can not ever know where you give impact or how much you matter, if you just listen to the norms of society or the stress of every-day concerns. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you have the dreams and the hopes that you do. They are and will be important for you and for someone else down the line.

PH: Can you tell us more about you as an artist?

Karlsson: Haha, this question is sort of uncomfortable to answer as a Scandinavian! We are not so used to talking about ourselves. I guess I should get used to it now that more songs will be released.

But the artist project that is “the Turning of the Tide” was born more out of necessity than anything else, I would say. Of course there is inspiration and fun in it, and there will be more of that along the way, but many of the songs were born out of a need to understand something, or a need to express some aspect of a struggle. I felt that somehow, in order to justify their existence, they should be a small microcosmos that would hopefully bring the listener to a greater understanding, or greater acceptance, or simply a feeling of not being alone within the great swirling chaos that our lives can sometimes be. So I think that the main focus of the project is to be a small anchor in the sometimes overwhelming experience it can be to be alive. And a reminder for us that life is also great and fun, and something better will be waiting for us at the horizon as well.

PH: What is coming up next for you?

Karlsson: More releases of music! I’m really looking forward to releasing a new single at the end of the month, to having a few tours in the summer, and to releasing the rest of the EP at the beginning of the autumn. Next year my first full length album will also be set free in the world!