- Biography
One of recent pop history’s most important newcomers within eclectic soulful pop, according to trend-setting pop connoisseurs. The debut single “Strangers On An Island” (2018) – produced by DJ-legend Fatboy Slim – was a shooting star across the pop music world, hailed by NME (“A gorgeous, laid-back slice of pop magic), Music Week (”A maverick swimming against the tide, creating his own lane in the world of pop music”), and industry-leading blogs such as The Line of Best Fit (”Uplifting and damning, it’s a beautiful piece of work”). An innovative musical reputation, maintained in 2021 with the single releases “People” in May and “Naked” in August. And Brother Leo will start off 2022 with the single “Living In A Zoo” and part one of the long-awaited debut album, “PoP Poetry [pt 1]”.
Calling Brother Leo a “newcomer” is, however, a qualified truth. Behind the project is Ola; one of Sweden’s most well-known songwriters and artists. In 2010, Ola started his own record label Oliniho Records and by now he has cultivated a swarming basket of breathtaking pop fruits, both as an artist and songwriter. Among others, he has collaborated with producers and songwriters like Shellback (Adele, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift), Klas Åhlund (Robyn, Teddybears), Fred Gibson (BTS, Ed Sheeran, Twigs, Stormzy, The xx), Mark Ralph (Years & Years), and Elof Loelv (Rihanna, Tove Lo, Tove Styrke), Jocke Berg (Kent) and Björn Yttling (Peter Bjorn and John). Four albums, seven chart-toppers, European tours, Swedish Grammy nominations – and sublime pop for years and days.
If you ask Ola who Brother Leo is, you get a multifaceted answer. “Brother Leo started as an idea. A creative output of something I had inside, that I needed to get out. The whole idea behind Brother Leo was to create an honest and creative space that forced me outside of my comfort zone. An alternative reality where I can let myself move freely across the whole spectrum of emotions and expressions, to be able to create my own bittersweet pop poetry. As Brother Leo I feel that I’m able to challenge and push myself more as an artist and songwriter. Brother Leo is mainly about freedom to me”
But Brother Leo has actually been around much longer than that. “When I was a kid, I had this imaginary twin brother who I called Leo. He was a free spirit, fearless, and a more confident version of myself. And that is how I want to approach my music. But Brother Leo is still me, it’s like an extension of me, a bigger version of myself.”
Geographically, Brother Leo moves between London, Berlin and Stockholm. Genre-wise, he moves with Olympic flexibility on multiple levels. From singer-songwriter-melancholy to alternative arena-pop, absorbing grooves, euphoric wind instruments and catchy beats. Wherever the sound adventure goes, it’s wrapped in characteristic soul pop. Brave and unguarded. Sincere and darkly humorous. Musical playfulness with integrity. Ingenious alt-pop, fusing together melancholic lyrics with colorful melodies. Brother Leo possesses the rare ability to connect across the totality of the pop landscape. He writes about his own life and experiences with vulnerability and sometimes a provocative gallows humor. The whole spectrum – which Ola also expresses in the lyrics.
“I’m just trying to be as free and honest as possible in everything I do whether it’s in my lyrics, soundscapes or visuals. In the end I prefer the listener to make their own interpretations of my music. But what I’ve learned about myself is that I need to be able to let myself move freely across the span of emotions and expressions to be as inspired as possible. When I look at the songs I’ve written for this debut album, they’re about everything from escapism to questioning God, society and myself. That’s how I stay inspired and if that connects with someone out there it’s magic!”
The idea and lyrics for the next single, “Living In A Zoo” originally came from a letter that Ola started writing to his parents back home in Sweden, when he – just after getting signed as Brother Leo – recently had moved to London. With dark humor, Ola reflects on society, the music industry and his own part in it all. Is it all about money, status and success? Should we embrace all the madness? Is this all comedy, or is it just tragic? Are we all living a lie? The conclusion that Brother Leo ultimately draws is that we all live in a zoo. A zoo which we all, to varying degrees, have helped create.
Both Brother Leo as a project and the debut album “PoP Poetry” constitute a catharsis for Ola.
“I don’t want to limit myself. If I want five verses in a song and no chorus, or a trombone stronger than the lead vocals, then I’ll do that. We are all prisms with lots of colors, and I want to express as many of mine as possible. It’s more honest and fun that way. And I’m so thankful that I have found songwriters and producers who understand my vision and want to build this world with me.”
So, who is Brother Leo? A newly emerged soul pop comet spreading colorful bittersweet pop poetry across the sky of music. A messenger of genre-boundless pop creations taking your ears and heart to unimaginable melodic dimensions. Brother Leo constitutes it all, and will undoubtedly make a mark on the music year of 2022. As the iconic music industry trade paper Music Week puts it:
“Brother Leo is a maverick swimming against the tide, creating his own lane in the world of pop music. A non-conformist refusing to be confined to what a generic pop star should be like.”
