We had an amazing time interviewing Ylva and Linda last time around, now they have released a new EP that includes songs from various different selections this year. They have worked so hard, so I am honoured that they have taken the time out to speak with us again at ESC United.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to speak with us again about your latest EP. We are very excited for it.
We really want to thank you for this interview, we’re so happy that you want to feature us in ESC united and promote our latest EP!
How long has it taken to put this newly released EP together?
All of the songs on the EP have been previously recorded with our vocals as demos before they competed in national selections to Eurovision with other artists in Moldova (Irresistible), Malta (Empty Hearted), Ireland JESC (Waiting for a star) and Ukraine (Overload). Closer to my heart was submitted to the online selection in Switzerland with ourselves as the main artists. But the song also competed in another version and with another title in Junior Eurovision Russia. We had a request from our fans to make a release of our own versions and prepared new, updated mixes for this EP.
Apart from Itunes and Spotify, is it available anywhere else?
We decided to do the release only on Spotify and iTunes as most of our listeners are there, but the songs are also available on Youtube. For Closer to my heart we have released a lyric video as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZRsuVTjOTk
Are you pleased with the success of the songs on the EP? (in terms of the ones that were in national selections)
Every song has its own individual journey and some of the songs have been around in different versions for a couple of years, before finally ending up in a national selection with the right artist. Irresistible was submitted to UMK Finland last year, Empty hearted was also submitted to Malta last year, Waiting for a star has been submitted to Söngvakeppning Iceland in previous years as well as Overload and has been made in a longer version with the title “My heart is in the game” for a sports event. But not until this year all the songs were released and competed. apart from these 5 songs on the EP we also competed with the songs Eye of the storm (3rd place in the final of Sönvakeppnin, Iceland), Survivors (semi final of Lithuania) and Light up my life (semi final of Malta) this year. Light Up My Life with Stefan Galea from Malta has been released on iTunes and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6ZJV7W0OGtUAvvkDLyTG7z
Do you plan to do a promotional tour with your new EP?
On our upcoming gigs in May during Eurovision and in September at the Eurovision cruise we will be performing ESC covers, but if there would be a request to sing our own songs we would be more than pleased!
Do you release your songs on record labels or are they self released, independent from a record label?
We work independently for our releases without any label involved.
What has the feedback been for the EP since it’s initial release?
We’ve had a warm response from Eurovision fans who follow us and who appreciate us both as singers and songwriters. This was followed by three interviews from ESC websites/blogs which we really appreciate.
What are your favourite songs on the EP?
It’s hard to pick one favourite as they are all our songs written from the heart!
Will you be putting songs forward for national selections in 2017? (I already have spotify/itunes links as I purchased the albums on both platforms already)
We already started the new Eurovision season when the last ended and are not working on new songs! We are very excited to see what 2017 will have in store for us.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us again. Ylva and Linda will be performing at The Euroclub in Stockholm on Friday 6th May and Friday 13th May, with both performances starting at 23:00. Their EP is available now on itunes and spotify.
