Photo: Linus Bertholdsson

Swedish newcomer Love Truls sings out his anxiety on the jangle pop delight “Trembling Hands”

18-year-0ld Swedish songwriter Truls Söderman Carlberg aka Love Truls emerged last year with a couple of singles, “Adult” and “Torn Up Dress”. As he gears up to release his debut EP, Kantande Wanai (Japanese for “It isn’t easy”), in June, he’s today shared a new single called “Trembling Hands”. He says:

“‘Trembling Hands’ was one of the first songs that I made and actually finished. I usually like to leave my songs open to interpretation as they can mean something different for everyone, but for me, ‘Trembling Hands’ is about new love and new intimacy.”

The click of a lighter opens “Trembling Hands”, putting Truls’ nervous disposition to the fore, but it’s soon soothed by his jangling guitar and the bright and hovering synth that weaves in and out, adding a cartoonish light to the song. He’s soon joined in harmony by Siri Gunrup Järvinen, a close childhood friend, whose voice meets his in this place of tension and together they find a beautiful union, both admitting their fears but finding solace in each other. A song that acknowledges neuroses but blasts through them with a beam of friendship and melody, “Trembling Hands” is a simple but deadly effective earworm.

Watch the video below or listen on streaming platforms.

Love Truls’ Kantande Wanai EP arrives on June 4 via This Is Scandinavia. You can find him on Instagram.