Photo & © Ricky Tillblad
Dagens Nyheter 2025-07-21
By: ELIN WRETHOV
Österlen and the High Coast. Helen Sjöholm’s favorite spots are located in different parts of the country. After a vacation with her family, a long-awaited summer tour with Tommy Körberg awaits.
Helen Sjöholm has been looking forward to singing with Tommy Körberg again.
– We did Änglagård (House of Angels) recently, but in that performance we didn’t sing anything together, just the two of us. In the corridors we talked about how it was a shame, but the plot couldn’t be changed, Helen Sjöholm says.
– But then it came up that maybe we should do something just him and I.
Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg know each other well by now. (…) But this summer’s tour will be their first together.
– It’s a joy to sing with Tommy and it feels like our voices fit together in some way. We sing together in a way that is organic and simple.
The summer tour begins at Dalhalla and then continues via, among other places, Vadstena Castle and Skuleberget.
– Being outdoors is more fragile but also absolutely fantastic if the weather is good. We will be in very beautiful places and the environment has an impact. Skuleberget is one of my favorite places on earth where I have been and listened to music since I was young. The high coast is my place in a way.
Are you a person who likes to tour?
– I like the mix. Finding a home on a stage and playing one or two seasons there, but traveling is also great fun and I do that regularly, even if the tours are often not that long.
If possible, she prefers to take the train between concert venues.
– I love sitting on the train, it makes me relax and gives me peace to read and work.
But the summer starts with a few weeks off. It will be spent with the family in both the northern part of the country and in the south. First on Alnön outside Sundsvall where Helen grew up. The summer house is still there and Helen and her siblings have taken it over and are continuing the summer tradition from their childhood.
– The summer memories are encapsulated in the smells from there and the sounds of the sea. To be able to keep that place and return there feels like the best thing.
Then it’s off to the south, to Österlen in Skåne.
– We both, but especially my husband, have connections to Österlen through family and friends. There’s something about the light down there that’s absolutely magical.
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What do you like to do on a sunny summer day?
– Nothing. Although I’m bad at doing nothing. When I succeed, it’s fantastic: being by the sea, cooking good food without stress, reading a book. I enjoy reading.
Any favorite book?
– No, I read everything. Lately I’ve discovered Karl Ove Knausgård. His series that began with The Morning Star is fantastic. The book The Phenomenal Women at the Grand Hôtel is also great.
Do you have a favorite summer song?
– No, but when they sing Den blomstertid nu kommer (The Flower Time is Coming) at the kids’ graduation, I always smile. There’s something special about it that has to do with childhood memories.
What songs will be on the tour?
– We’ve tried to find songs that create a summery and nice feeling. There will be some that the audience has heard before, but also some new ones. Both Tommy and I have some songs in our bag that people love. Even though it’s supposed to feel like a duet concert, it won’t be duets all the way through. But something from Chess and something danceable from Benny Andersson’s orchestra can certainly be counted on.
(The entire interview is not reproduced for copyright reasons)