Christian Kjellvander: Enjoy the Silence

In the shadows of darkness sometimes lies pure, unfiltered beauty.

Such is the case for the music of Sweden’s Christian Kjellvander, who returns with EX VOTO/The Silent Love, a beautiful album of minimalist gothic country that finds the artist continuing to explore the complexities of love, religion and the natural world in his distinctive timbre.

EX VOTO/The Silent Love was recorded in an old summer house on Sweden’s southern tip, overlooking the sea. The house — and the quiet it provided —created a sense of ambiance where the creaks of the floorboards become part of the sound.

Recorded live over a few days in an old summer house by the sea at Sweden’s southern tip, the album captures the breath and quiet of a room where no headphones were needed, where vocals bleed into the space through a PA, and every creak of the floorboards became part of the sound.

At the heart of the record is Kjellvander’s deep, expressive baritone and lyrical clarity, surrounded by a sparse yet rich palette: brush drums, bass clarinet, cornet, Rhodes, synths and the haunting counterpoint of female vocals. It’s a combination of textures that gives these songs a cinematic, noir-like feel.

Rock & Roll Globe had the pleasure of catching up with Mr. Kjellvander about this remarkable album and what inspired its creation.

EX VOTO/The Silent Love is out now on Tapete Records.

 

What initially informed the creation of this trilogy of albums that concludes with EX VOTO/The Silent Love?

Couldn’t really say. There is so much synergy going on in these processes it would be foolish to presume I even know where it comes from. But I didn’t set out to write a trilogy. It just took on that form. Maybe I’ve just had a feeling that that is what needs to be coming out of the arts today. More love? or more questions about love…

 

What is the story behind the album title?

We’d been doing some traveling in catholic countries since the last record and spending a lot of time opening and closing giant oak doors as quietly as we could. I came across the word ex voto. ”After promise” meaning an offering to the gods for good fortune. I was married last summer which is the topic of the first song I wrote for EX VOTO was “Love of Another.” It raised the question, “What comes after a promise?”

Also, I later thought; artists these days live off touring so an album sometimes feels like an offering to the gods to have good fortune on the road.

All three albums speak of love. What is it like to navigate such a topic during such fraught times?

I think it’s essential to try or at least it has been for me. Love is a pretty big umbrella. Trying to put down on paper what it is I gather about love has kept my fraught level at a minimum. As far as I can tell fear disguised as hate or indifference is its opposer. The world is full of it all. So I’ve tried to navigate my way as the vulnerable force I am…as a partner, a lover, a father, a friend and hopefully as an artist.

 

This album reminds me very much of the more somber works of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. How much is his music a guidepost for how you write songs, if at all? Who are some other artists who inform the creation of your sound?

When I was younger I always found Nick Cave a bit trite and pompous. rude dude. Which I still feel about a lot of his earlier and midlife stuff but today I can see a point in it. I get the aesthetic. I did however come to like him more in later years when he softened a bit and started working with Warren whom I’ve always thought had something very unique. But I wouldn’t say it’s a guidepost. Not at all. Perhaps we’re both aiming for the moon of Leonard Cohen or Nina Simone and end up tangled in the same tree.

Usually what informs my sound these days are the players, the room and the instruments we chose to bring to the location. I’m pretty dogmatic when it comes to amount of different instruments on a record. I like to keep the amount of options to a minimum. that and that i always want to record live probably has a lot to do with hating to have to make decisions. There’s so much time and decision making in the songwriting that by the time we get to recording I just want to find something that turns me on, be in it and be finished. so it’s the same with the sound of the records. I want them to be there own little worlds which is easier the less options you have.

 

How much does Sweden itself inspire the music you create?

Probably a lot or none at all. I try to write from a small perspective. from a place within where it hurts a little. Where I know I’m being candid and sort of at the sword’s edge. Somewhere between subconscious and simple dust on a lamp… right on that line is where I want to be and perhaps Sweden is an environment where one has time to delve into those parts of human nature?

 

Are you a fan of any Swedish metal?

Maybe not a fan, but I love a lot of doom and black. Especially when it’s just hypnotic. But in later years, maybe due to how the politics of the world are shaping, I’ve found it more and more difficult to listen to brutal or aggressive music.

 

How much does cinema inform your music?

I do love cinema even though I rarely have time. I tend to choose to read when that type of space opens up. But I do always see my music through a cinematographer’s lens and the lyrics always evoke scenes being played out in my mind. The music tends to follow the lyrics…so I can see how it feels cinematic when listening.

 

My favorite song on the new album is “The View Is Watching.” I’d love to know how it came together.

I think it comes from the idea that everything is open. Everything can see and be seen by everything. That there aren’t any laws of loneliness or other made up truths. It’s all just dimensions and all that fascinating mind bending stuff

I write poems between records and this is derived from a slow long stream of consciousness poem I started in the summer of 2023 called “for Deborah Levy.” I wrote a little every week for a year or so. Mostly scenes or ideas that occurred or came to me the day before. My record company had been hinting me to use old drum-machines on the new record. So I took one of the beats they sent me and wrote this song from that poem on top of a 6/8 beat of a Ace Tone rhythm Ace fr3 through a spring reverb. It was hard to write the 4/4 song over it but it gave a nice out of sync feel. One of my all time favourite records is “arise therefore” which has a lot of that machine and weird timing. But in the end we used about three seconds of it.

It was a hard song to get down..because I wanted the band to be leaning in so that I could lay back. It was a bit difficult since Svante who plays drums on this record prides himself in laying back which is perfect for the rest of the record but this song needed both. In the end we found a way to do it by incorporating a faux hi hat. The women singing the harmonies I’d met a few weeks earlier at a concert I had at their school. They really gave the song an eerier feel and the guitar that just kind of plays over the whole song in one take made it fluctuate in the way I think such a monotonous lyric driven song needs or at least this one needed.

 

VIDEO: Christian Kjellvander Band Live on Radio Zar Zak May 2025

Where was the striking cover art shot?

It’s our old country house (not where we live ) that I bought almost 20 years ago. I’ve been writing down there for just as long and the view through those doors has been the backdrop to many songs over the years. The picture is taken from the kitchen table where I work when I’m there alone. I always loved that view for some reason and probably have 100 photos of it in different lights and seasons. I’ve been meaning to change the inner roof in the front room forever but other builds have been prioritised. Luckily I got over that vanity and asked David Mäller – who Is a very respectable photographer – if he could just humor me and take a shot or two of me through those doors between other shots we were doing.

We had a lot of great photos as potential covers but I’m glad this view is on the cover for personal reasons.

 

What are your thoughts on the current state of America and do you have any plans to do shows here in 2026?

I really don’t know what to say. I mean I think we’re all just kind of shaking our heads and trying to stay focused on those closest to us. Which is a shame of course and probably exactly the idea moving forward. But right now I really don’t know what else to do. I’d love to tour the U.S. again. But I honestly don’t see it happening. It’s not really worth the hassle. Because it unfortunately really is a hassle and a hustle. I used to have a green card which made it easy but I gave it back a few years ago.