so, it’s hard not to be impressed by danish singer-songwriter tina dico’s career. she’s in her early thirties and has already formed a record label on her own (early in her career, natch), won the equivalent of denmark’s oscar for a soundtrack she wrote, and is a multi-platinum artist who has outsold acts like coldplay and U2 in her home country. In addition to being beloved around the world, she’s also had the privilege to perform for the danish royal family numerous times.
tina dico seems to have it all as an artist – genuine talent to write her own music (diane warren, no need to call), the ability to expand awareness of her music outside of scandanavia without the help of huge record labels, and consistent song recording that keeps her fans coming back for more.
she’s recently recorded a two-disc set that is a mix of greatest hits, acoustic b-sides, and new songs. tina was kind enough to answer a few questions for me:
have you met heather: welcome back colour consists of the uptempo welcome up, including a number of fan favorites, and the acoustic welcome down. what inspired you to release welcome back colour this way?
tina dico: Welcome Back Colour is a kind of anthology and a paraphrase over these first ten years of my career and I wanted it to represent both sides to what I do: a disc with rocky band tracks and a disc with acoustic storytelling. I also wanted it to be both retrospective and pointing forward which is why there are a handful of new songs in quite different directions – which I had so much fun recording!
There’s also a lot of new recordings of oldies, favourites and B-sides. I just felt like adding something extra and sitting down with my guitar to re-visit tunes from different corners of these past years.
hymh: what inspired the title, welcome back colour?
tina: I saw “Welcome Back Colour” written on the window of a department store in Seattle some years ago and although it was just something colorful and fun to lure people in to buy summer clothes it hit me quite hard and I stood there for a while, staring at these words. I found it quite melancholic, I guess. ‘Cause where had the colors been? I struck a chord in my life at the time which in some ways had become quite “black and white”. And with this record I wanted to consciously try and bring the colors back into my life and remind myself of how colorful my journey with music has been so far.
hymh: as this album includes a number of your greatest hits, which do you consider to be your personal favorites to perform and why?
tina: It depends on the kind of concert and in which country. In Denmark I play these huge rock shows where it’s such good fun to blast out songs like On The Run, Nobody’s Man and Welcome Back Colour. At my more acoustic shows I love to play storytelling songs like Friend In A Bar, He Doesn’t Know and Magic and really play around with the nuances. My all-time favourites, I guess, are Room With A View and Count To Ten. I don’t know why – they’re very close to my heart…
thanks, tina!
i’m going to have to concur with tina on count to ten – it’s probably my favorite of hers, too. here’s a video of her performing it:
love it, love it, LOVE IT. the chorus is brilliant:
sometimes the fastest way to get there is to go slow
and sometimes if you wanna hold on you got to let go
i’m gonna close my eyes
and count to ten
i’m gonna close my eyes
and when i open them again
everything will make sense to me then
some highlights off of welcome back colour:
* welcome back colour – the title track kicks off the two-disc set with a plucky, driven guitar line that underscores a barely restrained urge to break free. the olden days are black and white on my tv/and nowadays the future looks the same to me/unless you and i remind each other/to welcome back colour
* warm sand – melancholy as much as it is bright at times, it’s a look at things beyond one’s reach and finally putting them to rest. warm sand underneath my feet/no promises left for you to keep/fortune smiling back at me/forgetting the things that couldn’t be
* goldhawk road – next to count to ten, my favorite off of the upbeat welcome up. it’s all about coming home to where you started from after realizing your priorities. i never thought i would want to go back from goldhawk road/but friendship and root is much stronger than that/and here i go/i know i’m late/but babe, i’ve changed
* rebel song – i adore the guitar in this one; it carries the song almost by itself. could it be that i know nothing/about holding on to love/like you hold on to the thread/that your life hangs on
* room with a view – sweet and simple, romantic and heartfelt, this is a quiet song that serves as a lullaby. but what’s a man without a past/we love him for his lies/and then we try to break him down to make it last/’til they come true/thank god for this beautiful view
* break of day – an antique piano lends this one a bittersweet edge. lying back to back at 10 to 1/you’re awake, like me/trying to conceive that done is done/you made a mistake, i see/but i’m a little too tired, baby/it’s a little too late
(m4a) love is all around by tina dico
here are tina’s tour dates for the US:
Jan 30 – Ramshead Tavern – Annapolis, MD
Jan 31 – Highline Ballroom – NY, NY
Feb 1 – Smith’s Old Bar – Atlanta, GA
Feb 2 – 3rd & Lindsey – Nashville, TN
Feb 3 – Schuba’s – Chicago, IL
Feb 5 – Stubbs Jr. – Austin, TX
Feb 6 – Triple Door – Seattle, WA
Feb 8 – Swedish American Hall – San Francisco, CA
Feb 9 – Troubadour – LA, CA
Feb 10 – Anthology – San Diego, CA
learn more about tina dico HERE. buy welcome back colour HERE.