ERJA LYYTINEN - STOLEN HEARTS

GOLDEN DOUBLE VINYL EDITION

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Erja Lyytinen´s album “Stolen Hearts” was originally recorded in 2016. The album includes some of Lyytinen´s most popular songs, like ‘Black Ocean’, a cool slice of 1970s-influences rock built upon a strident, sassy riff and garnished with one of Lyytinen’s finest guitar solos to date. The album songs are filled with heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fear of loss and yet, at the same time, the deepest love.  The album was done with a multi-platinum selling engineer and producer Chris Kimsey. Kimsey is best known for having worked on many of the biggest selling albums by The Rolling Stones but his CV also includes the likes of Led Zeppelin, Peter Frampton, Marillion, The Quireboys and The Psychedelic Furs among many others. Lyytinen was thrilled to fly to London to record her lead vocal tracks and then sit back and watch as the Englishman mixed the results at a studio called The State Of The Ark, equipped with a desk once owned by EMI. In fact, ‘Stolen Hearts’ was mixed on said console – the same one that Kimsey had often used with the Stones. 

The new “Stolen Hearts” double vinyl includes previously unreleased song “Kings and Queens”. The song was recorded on the album session back in the 2016, but never found it´s way to the original album. Now “Kings and Queens” will be heard for the first time on this golden double vinyl edition, which is a must piece for each collector´s shelf!

ERJA LYYTINEN - NEW ALBUM

“WAITING FOR THE DAYLIGHT”

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INCLUDES THE LATEST SINGLE “LAST GIRL”
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ERJA LYYTINEN - WAITING FOR THE DAYLIGHT

European Blues Award-winning guitarist Erja Lyytinen returns with her new studio album, 'Waiting For The Daylight’. 

Erja Lyytinen pursued a multitude of activities during the pandemic era, including the release of her rather unique live album ‘Lockdown Live 2020’, her debut autographical book titled ‘The Blues Queen’, a series of guitar tuition manuals as well as pushing her entrepreneurial spirit with her blues-themed line of tea. With some semblance of normality returning within the music world, Lyytinen has resumed her touring activities across the globe.

‘The Queen of the Slide Guitar’ began working on her new studio album during the lockdown era. “I started to write songs during the pandemic and put a lot of feelings into the songs I had during these past two years. I feel that the new song material is quite unique and different compared to the previous ones,” said Erja. 

‘Waiting For The Daylight’ was recorded in between the artist’s hectic touring schedule during a period which has seen Lyytinen perform across the continent as well as making her debut in destinations as far afield as Algeria. “In a way, this was probably my easiest album. I had done a lot of pre-production before we went into the studio. However, I took my time concentrating on working on the overdubs in my own studio and did long hours there. This was very hard, but a cool period and I must say I haven´t ever been so satisfied with the results as now,” explains Lyytinen. 

With her latest offering, Lyytinen continues to explore subjects that are close to her heart whilst simultaneously embracing growth and development both at a personal level as well via her craft. “With this album, I wanted to honour the music of the 60s–70s. Bands with big guitar solos and heavy progressive and rocky sounds. Since I was a kid, I have been listening to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on. Finally, I had a chance to make an album where I could express myself more as a blues/rock guitarist than ever before. The songs also became heavier with deep subjects, pointing out the grievance in everyday life and the loss of love. It might have been the pandemic that made me want to shout out all the anger, frustration, and deep feelings. But I also felt that I am now expressing what and how I truly feel as a guitar player and a singer, which is actually very nice and relieving,” confirms Erja. 

Throughout the album, Lyytinen grapples with life during her formative years via the track “Last Girl”. As with both of her previous albums ‘Another World’ and ‘Stolen Hearts’, the High-Flying Finn further explores the subjects of love and loss during songs such as “Bad Seed” and “Love Bites”. Furthermore, the slide guitar supremo continues to elevate her gift and push herself further during the epic composition "The End of Music" and the hard-rocking "Waiting For The Daylight". 

For her latest offering, Lyytinen explains that she wanted to make a 'band album'. "My drummer Iiro Laitinen and bassist Tatu Back are doing a fantastic job. We practised the songs a lot before going to the studio, which you can really hear on the tracks. My long-term keyboardist Harri Taittonen joined on the album, which was a real treat," she says. “I also wanted to improve my guitar chops and guitar skills, so I was practising a lot, exploring different guitarists and their technics. I wanted to make a guitar album, with lots of guitar solos and interesting guitar parts, and a lot of slide guitar of course. In some of the songs, I have played over twenty different guitar tracks, and the whole album sounds huge.”

Throughout 2021, Erja Lyytinen and her band performed multiple times on Finnish national TV, including a much-revered appearance as part of the country's Independence Day celebration. The artist has appeared in Guitar Player Magazine (US), where she was chosen as one of the "10 guitarists who are keeping the blues alive and well for a new generation of players". The artist was also inducted into the prestigious Finnish Hall of Fame.

The first single from the album “Bad Seed” will be released on Wednesday 29th June 2022. 

Consisting of nine original songs, ‘Waiting For The Daylight’ by Erja Lyytinen will be released on Friday 7th October 2022 via Tuohi Records. 

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THE NEWEST SINGLE OF THE RECORD

“WAITING FOR THE DAYLIGHT”

ALBUM TRACK BY TRACK

BAD SEED
I wanted to make a track that you could dance to. This track has a fat groove and instantly makes you want to move. In the solos, two guitars vary. A regular guitar and a slide guitar have a conversation. It’s one of my favourites on the album and our first single release.

LAST GIRL
This song features my most developed and well-rehearsed guitar chops! Perhaps you could say it’s like Joe Satriani meets Iron Maiden. I wanted this song to be like one of those 80´s guitar hero songs, and I pushed myself to play differently. It is a very up-tempo song with a lot of intensity and funky elements. The song talks about bullying in schools and how you can be left out of a friendship group. I always put something of my own in the songs as well, so it became a very important song on many levels.

RUN AWAY
One day I was playing with my new guitar and the melodic guitar part on the song started to form. In the choruses, it turns into a rock/pop song. It was cool to write a slide solo on this one.

WAITING FOR THE DAYLIGHT
This song has a deep meaning to me, as I have lost a few friends to long term illnesses. In the song, I am describing how a lovely creature comes to you, taking you sweetly away from your earthly pains on your last day. There´s a huge guitar solo on this track which grows towards the end with a guitar harmony accompanying the lead guitar. I was trying to express the deep story through this grandioso solo and big backing vocals in the end.

NEVER REALLY HAD YOU
This is a heart-breaking blues ballad about long lost love. It starts from a small and growing track to a big number. It’s one of those songs that brings a tear to your eye.

DIAMONDS ON THE ROAD
This is one of the bluesiest songs on the album! It paints a picture of a single Mom taking care of their child, where their man has gone out to play with another woman. Mom is planning a little revenge and goes out to confront the bad weather. The song speeds up towards the end as she is determined to reach her goal following the diamonds on the road like Hans and Gretel in the forest. There is lots of crazy slide guitar on this one.

YOU TALK DIRTY
This song was originally released for the first time 20 years ago on my first recording. I thought the song had potential, so we made a new arrangement for it, and it became quite a tough number on the album. I have always liked War Pigs by Black Sabbath and this song has similar elements. In the intro through using Whammy, I vary between C and D major chords to create this moaning effect.

LOVE BITES
This is a story about love, or how the lack of it makes you feel physically uncomfortable. It gets into your skin, and it makes you feel like you never want to fall in love again, as illustrated in the first verse. This could be a Ray Charles song with a punky attitude. I also wrote violin parts for the song and the C-part has a bit of a Tori Amos vibe, with a grand piano playing expressively in the background.

THE END OF MUSIC
This song has a southern rock vibe. My band and I played this one live in the studio. It is probably the earthiest song on the album. It’s very relaxed and a perfect ender for the album. The song talks about missing being back on stage performing in front of an audience. It could also be about missing your love, how love ends and because of that, how the melody and music ends, too.