Acclaimed Stockholm-based artist/producer/composer Joel Danell, who records as Sven Wunder but rarely performs on his own albums, will play the first U.S. shows of his career this fall while opening for Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist on their tour in support of the just-released Alfredo 2.
The trek begins Sept. 20 in Philadelphia and runs through Nov. 9 in San Francisco. Wunder will appear at almost all of the dates, with Jalen Ngonda and Movi also supporting at various points throughout the itinerary. Tickets go on sale Friday (Aug. 8). See the itinerary below.
Wunder, whose four prior albums for Piano Piano Records have highlighted the vintage sounds of Anatolian rock, Japanese stringed instruments, heavily orchestrated, ballad-leaning jazz and Italian library music, will release his next full-length, Daybreak, on Sept. 23. Flutes and horns carve sinuous paths over twinkling vibraphone and brushed drums on the title cut and “Still Moorings,” while the grooves tighten and the low end kicks in on “Warmer Air” and “Turning Tides,” which are punctuated by rock organ and reverb-kissed keys.
Having experimented with personnel at a handful of his debut live shows in Europe late last year, Wunder will be joined for the Gibbs/Alchemist gigs by multi-instrumentalist Josefin Runsteen. The Feist and Adrianne Lenker collaborator will play drums and additional instruments, while Wunder will tackle synthesizers and keyboards.
And although this kind of music may on paper seem like a strange fit with the classic hip-hop stylings of Gibbs and Alchemist, Wunder has some roots in that world and has himself collaborated with rappers such as Danny Brown. “I was really into rap when I was growing up,” Wunder told SPIN in 2023. “That was like my first musical love, you know? I grew up in the ‘90s, so I went around with my Walkman listening to Wu-Tang Clan and Cypress Hill. I still do I enjoy that type of music very much.”
