Maggie Björklund: Coming Home (Bloodshot, 3/22/11)
Maggie Björklund: “The Anchor Song”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Maggie_Bjorklund_The_Anchor_Song.mp3|titles=Maggie Björklund: “The Anchor Song”]In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Danish guitarist Maggie Björklund got her chops playing around Europe in country bands and pop groups. But it wasn’t until she discovered the radiant sounds of the pedal-steel guitar that she packed her bags to learn under a Nashville veteran.
Björklund’s debut solo album, Coming Home, is a charming collection of Southwestern folk tunes, and many of her established relationships with US artists help make it so — including guest spots by Calexico, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Rachel Flotard (Visqueen), and Jon Auer (The Posies). Coming Home proves itself to be a beautiful debut, from the crooning vocals, western guitar licks, and cello strikes of “Summer Romance” to the dark guitar lines and ghostly, high-octave contrasts of “Insekt.”