The second difficult album: that's what the sequel to a successful debut is usually called.

But for Jakob Hellman, it got even worse than that, it simply never came.

- The best explanation is probably that I withdrew from people who could push me.

First I moved from Stockholm and pulled away from this with the music and everything.

I was not happy with what I recorded, and I did not want to tease myself as much as I thought it was my duty to do, says Jakob Hellman.

He himself says that he never really wanted to be as big as he became, that he would have been happy to play on smaller, local stages.

But the fact that there was never a sequel did not make him forgotten - rather, only the mystique and the cult grew around him.

- I have almost used it a little, I have been able to go around and play without having any new material, because there has been a curiosity all the time.

It seems that there is a need for something stagnant, I become like an oasis in time.

Did not want to disappoint

But 30 years after "... and the big sea", he was persuaded to go on an anniversary tour, and in connection with that he started recording new music and accepted the TV show "So much better".

Suddenly it became harder than ever to dodge.

- You do not want to disappoint everyone once again because I have said so many times that "I make a record after the summer".

But I probably would not have done it so fast if I had not met these deadlines.

Although at least as big a reason why it actually became a record this time is that he had people around him who both pushed and supported.

- I have listened to others much more now and tested things even though I did not understand why, and so it turned out well.

Songs about death

Musically, the new album is similar to the old, it has what Jakob Hellman himself calls typical Jakob Hellman melodies.

- I sing more casually, I think I have found a tone.

The difference is that the lyrics are no longer about despised love.

They stay at death quite a lot, almost comically a lot if you look at the song titles - but in a happy and almost victorious way.

As a 24-year-old debutant, everything in life was about music.

Now, almost 32 years later, there are other things that are also important.

- This means that you can also be the one who watches, not just the one who is watched, says Jakob Hellman.