“The Sorrow” is the second single from “The Let Go”, the new EP by Sara Forslund, out June 13th via Jivvär.
“The Let Go” (EP) is Swedish singer-songwriter Sara Forslund’s first release in seven years and perhaps her most personal offering to date. In the beginning of 2020, her brother Andreas was diagnosed with the incurable disease ALS and passed away on the 9th of July 2022, four days after his 46th birthday. Since then, Sara has also lost another brother, Rolf, who tragically was hit by a train on the 7th of September 2025, only 49 years old. These songs were written only a few weeks before Andreas’ death, and the vocals recorded two weeks after.
“The songs became a necessity for my grieving process” Sara says. “I thought of cancelling the recording studio that I had booked but when Andreas heard a demo at the hospital of `The sorrow´ through a simple voice memo recording, he was immediately very moved. That’s when I decided to follow through with the recordings in memory of him.”
The EP deals with the themes of loss, death, sorrow, sickness, losing bodily control, the vulnerability of love, not necessarily wanting to die but not knowing how to live anymore, and reaching out for that last hope in your despair.
Sara Forslund (1981) was born in a small village called Borgvattnet in the northern part of Sweden. Borgvattnet is known for its haunted vicarage. At that time, Sara’s father, Tore Forslund, was the local priest, nicknamed `The ghost priest´ after offering to relieve the village of its ghosts that were said to reside in the old vicarage. As a young child Forslund would often sing religious hymns together with her family on the streets of Sweden. In 2012 she visited a show of Glaswegian singer-songwriter Gareth Dickson that completely blew her away and changed her path. The fullness of hearing just one acoustic guitar, a story told with gentle vocals was something that resonated deeply within her. His dreamy voice, like a still breeze passing by in the desert. Never too strong but always comforting. Gareth also introduced Sara to Nick Drake’s music, and just a few weeks later her debut album Water Became Wild saw the light of day. Forslund released Water became wild at Volkoren in 2015 and the album ended up on several best of the year lists. Forslund also ventured on several music collaborations at the time releasing Butterflies and graves on Time released sound 2013 with David Wenngren, and Poems of despair with indie artist David Åhlén and Lárus Sigurðsson on Kaip 2017. In august 2016, she began recording her second solo album, Summer is like a swallow, reconnecting with Nick Drake’s producer and sound engineer, John Wood, who also co-produced her album. This album was Sweden’s first Fair Trade Music Album. For this album she also collaborated with twice grammy-nominee, Johan Eckeborn, who steered the album in a slightly more experimental direction. Summer is like a swallow was released in November 2018 at KAIP, receiving favorable reviews from international press such as BBC radio, Les Inrockuptibles and NPR Music. Besides her bachelor’s degree in musicology from Stockholm University (2018) Forslund completed a bachelor’s in theology in 2022 and is currently working as a pastor in Sorbykyrkan in Munktorp outside of Köping in Sweden.
music won't save you 