Beloveds Amen Amen Amen

Beloveds, formed in 2016, plays music by Channa Riedel and is a dynamic septet known for its energetic blend of sweet and raw melodies. Their latest full-length album, Amen, amen, amen, evokes the feel of a sentimental brass band fused with the essence of sleepy jazz musicians attempting to play Swedish “progg”.

Amen, amen, amen draws inspiration from the Liberation Music Orchestra, Leonard Cohen, and Robert Wyatt, enhanced by the band’s extensive experience in the Swedish free jazz scene. In addition to Riedel’s poignant lyrics, the album features her musical interpretations of poems by Stig Dagerman, Gunvor Hofmo, and Emily Dickinson, delving deep into Riedel’s Jewish family history.

“Amen, amen, amen is a desperate prayer for the dead,” says Channa Riedel. “I want to make music that tells something about the history of the oppressed, about flight, struggle, and longing.”

Channa Riedel is a singer, composer, and celebrated poet. In 2023, her poetry book Karlsbad was published by Albert Bonniers förlag and was nominated for the Katapult Prize. In 2024, she received a working grant from the Albert Bonniers Scholarship Fund for Younger and Newer Writers. Riedel also contributed vocals and lyrics to the album Georg Riedel’s Jiddischland, nominated for Children’s Music of the Year at the 2024 Manifest Gala.

About the debut album Så tar natten dig åter (Abrovinsch Records, 2019):

"Wild melodic excursions, quick scene changes in tone, and harmonies that spring up like the mighty beating of wings as birds rise in flight make this one of the more eccentric, and fun, recordings of 2019". Dave Sumner, Bird is the worm