Chances are you haven’t heard Erik Hassle sing, but you’ve heard one of his songs. The Swedish singer/songwriter is one of the minds behind the Shakira track featuring Rihanna, “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” a song he wrote when he first moved to Los Angeles two years ago.
It was during that time that Hassle penned songs for his 2014 EP, Somebody’s Party.”My manager put me together with one of my best friends, his name is Daniel Ledinsky, and we started writing together. I think we did like 20 songs in the first two weeks or something. The whole EP was kinda written then too,” he said in a phone interview on the last day of rehearsal for his upcoming tour.
The six track EP features collaborations with Chicago rapper, Vic Mensa, and Hassle’s RCA label mate, Tinashe. In 22 minutes, he demonstrates that he’s left his Swedish Pop Star sound behind in favor of a more mature sound. “I had a couple more years of life–you know–giving me surprises and experiences that naturally sent me to the Soul thing again,” he explained of his shift from Pop to Soul, the genre that has served as him musical inspiration.
This month and continuing until the end of April, Hassle will be supporting New Zealand brother/sister synth-pop duo, Broods, followed by 15 dates with Twin Shadow. Broods fans in the Boston area can see Hassle perform at The Sinclair accompanied by Los Angeles DJ and producer, RRReymundo. Although tickets for the March 22 show are no longer available, it’s not too late to become acquainted with Hassle’s hypnotizing sound.
His next album will likely be released either at the end of this summer or in early 2016. His new song, tentatively titled “No Words,” doesn’t have an official release date, but you can expect it to be another emotional, smooth track from Hassle. While you wait for those upcoming releases, check out Somebody’s Party and be sure to follow him on Instagram to catch covers of some of his favorite songs.
Erik Hassle North American Tour Dates
03/20 – The Hoxton – Toronto, ON*
03/21 – Corona Theatre – Montreal, QC*
03/22 – The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA*
03/25 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY*
03/26 – Trocadero Theater – Philadelphia, PA*
03/27 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC*
03/28 – Visulite Theatre – Charlotte, NC*
03/29 – Masquerade (Hell Stage) – Atlanta, GA*
03/31 – Fitzgerald’s – Houston, TX*
04/01 – Trees – Dallas, TX*
04/02 – Emo’s – Austin, TX*
04/10 – Metro – Chicago, IL+
04/11 – Turner Hall Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI+
04/13 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN+
04/14 – Majestic Theatre – Madison, WI+
04/15 – The Ready Room – St. Louis, MO+
04/16 – The Granada – Lawrence, KS+
04/17 – Bluebird Theatre – Denver, CO+
04/19 – Belly Up – Aspen, CO+
04/21 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake, UT+
04/23 – Neumos – Seattle, WA+
04/24 – Imperial – Vancouver, BC+
04/25 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR+
04/27 – Knitting Factory – Reno, NV+
04/29 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA+
04/30 – The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA+
*supporting Broods
+supporting Twin Shadow