Yelena Eckemoff - Rosendals Garden II
"Strandvägen Pier" (L & H Productions, 2025)
“Strandvägen Pier” is the third of a projected seven singles released in anticipation of composer Yelena Eckemoff’s album Rosendals Garden1 in March 2026. “Rosendals Garden” and “Öresund Bridge” preceded the new single.
The song subject is a very long, straight marina, packed with boats from near and far. It is a destination for walking, both with intent and in luxury. This busy walking contrasts with the otherwise blissfully unhurried personality of dock life. The two exist equally and oppositely of one another. There is a partition dividing these two worlds, one that beckons from both sides. It is this dichotomy that Eckemoff and her rhythm section, bassist Svante Henryson and drummer Morgan Ågren, address in harmony and tempo.
The trio migrates from the autumnal images of “Öresund Bridge” to the schizoid frantic/relaxed environs of “Strandvägen Pier.” Tempo and complexity was and wane as the boats at the pier rise and drop with the movement of the water. Eckemoff confidently leads her trio from the rapid pace of downtown to the more sedate rhythm of the pier. Her opening figures are anxious and moving against their volition, seeking a new equilibrium, a comfortable one of accent and nuance. Ågren performs most sensitively in this evolution. Eckemoff and Ågren join Henryson in the solo space, leading to an extended Eckemoff exposition that continues into the calm coda.
This is a focused, thematically driven composition showing Eckemoff with no intention of creatively slowing down.
Rosendals Garden is on Djurgården, an island in Stockholm belonging to the Swedish royal family.