Biography

Naimi is Kristin Eklund, a 30-year-old girl living in Stockholm though originally from the small town of Kroksjö in the south of Sweden. She has been making music as Naimi since 1998. In late 2001 the now defunct record label Benno released a 7-inch of organ songs by her. Fast forward four years to the summer of 2005 for her next release, a CD-R EP called “Lagom är sämst” on Music Is My Girlfriend. During the time in between she kept on writing songs, continually releasing them on homemade demos. It is from these demos the songs on “Det är jag som bestämmer inte du” are culled.

Genre-wise, the songs are all over the place. Slow, dreamy piano songs, fast frantic synth tunes, twee songs on acoustic guitar, weird experimental songs, the list goes on. Some songs are instrumental, some have vocals, of which some are in Swedish and some in English. All of the above mentioned styles are represented on the record by a song or two, however the majority of the songs on “Det är jag som bestämmer inte du” are performed and recorded on her large collection of synths (including quite a few toy/children’s synths) found at second hand-shops and flea markets.

“Det är jag som bestämmer inte du” is Swedish for “I’m the one who decides, not you”, which (although not intended as such) also serves quite well as a description of her attitude towards making music. Inspired by no-one but herself, her music is unique and special, not really related to anything else. The feeling of the songs swings from melancholic to happy, always based on catchy melodies you’ll find yourself humming along to whether you’d like to or not.