As Badlands, Catharina Jaunviksna parlays her considerable DIY talents beneath an almost cinematic shroud of mystery. So you’d expect nothing less than an enticingly open-ended assessment of her latest single, “Nobody Dies.”
“It was born from a fleeting encounter and the weight of a moment shared between two people on the edge,” says the Swedish composer, producer, documentarist and soundscape auteur. “Their story lingered with me … fragments of their words, a certain silence between them. And I tried to capture that feeling.”
“Nobody Dies” is the title track to Badlands’ fourth studio album, available October 10 on Jaunviksna’s RITE label. Assuming the role of post-apocalyptic fabulist, she interweaves a roughhewn patchwork of folky intimacy and ambient balladry with electronic, organic and (on some occasions) discarded instruments. She also called on a few friends, including pedal-steel player Maggie Björklund (Jack White, Mark Lanegan), folklorist/cellist Ida Mitchell and collage artist Oskar Persson (OSKARP).
“The video is based on both the story behind the song and an art collaboration with Oskar,” says Jaunviksna. “He also made the album’s original artwork, including the limited-edition vinyl gatefold sleeve.”
We’re proud to premiere Badlands’ “Nobody Dies.”
—Hobart Rowland
