motel void

MOTEL VOID: The Hope Singers bring together a collective of leftfield and alternative musicians from around Stockholm. How did this collaboration first come together, and what makes it work as a collective rather than a traditional band?

THE HOPE SINGERS: Almost 10 years ago we made the first The Hope Singers album. I was in a recording session with my instrumental band The Second Hand Orchestra when I started to feel the urge to have vocals around us, so I asked if we should start a side project with the same free and loose atmosphere but where the vocals and togetherness is at the centre. From there on the hope singers have now and then met up and recorded (this new album is our third), jammed and played shows. It is not the same line-up all the time, depending on who has the time and sometimes people invite themselves to be a part…

MOTEL VOID: Your last album included a wide range of covers, from Mary Ocher to Suicide, Low, and John Lennon. What connects these artists in your eyes, and how did you choose which songs to reinterpret? And how did you go about selecting the songs for the current album?

THE HOPE SINGERS: The ones you mention here… Mary Ocher, Suicide, Low, and John Lennon are very different from each other, but they all have their strong originality and an important urge in their music. Choosing songs to interpret is a constant process… but we have mostly focused on songs with themes as compassion, empathy, togetherness and which are not sung from a individualistic point of view… And some songs are chosen just because it is such a good melody that carries layers and possibilities to be sung in different settings. So, it’s not always our favorite songs, because some of those you don’t want to touch, but songs we feel connected and that fits somehow into our the hope singers universe… it can be a hidden gem which we want more people to hear or it can be a well-known song but we do it in our own way.

MOTEL VOID: The Hope Singers now return after six years of silence. Why did the end of 2025 feel like the right moment to come back?

THE HOPE SINGERS: Because the shaky state the world is in now, politically etc… it feels so right to do a project like this which is about getting together and singing songs about the strength in people… Music is powerful and the hope singers will sing about love and unity as long as Trump and co spits out their fear-propaganda….

MOTEL VOID: You invited an impressive range of vocalists for this new album, from Frida Hyvönen and Jens Lekman to Verity Susman and Bob Wiseman. How did you match specific songs to specific voices?

THE HOPE SINGERS: We wanted to challenge the vocalists we invited. And we wanted them to feel the same excitement as we did… I mean, it’s a dream come true for me to get to hear Frida Hyvönen sing a world party song! Verity Susman do a Buddy Holly classic! Jens Lekman sing a Maria McKee song!!

MOTEL VOID: Many of the guest artists stepped far outside their usual repertoire to join this project. What surprised you most about the way they interpreted these songs?

THE HOPE SINGERS: All the guest lead vocalists proved they are brave and have a strong urge to dive into music of all sorts. I am impressed by them all as they also delivered magic and soul into this project.

MOTEL VOID: Looking back at your debut It’s time for…, the 2019 self-titled album, and now Everyday is like survival, how has The Hope Singers evolved – and what has remained essential to the project’s core?

THE HOPE SINGERS: It is still a loose group , but we started by singing songs in unison and there was a lot of imperfect takes and blue notes, but it was all about the feeling and atmosphere… now, we have invited lead vocalists and the hope singers operate as a constant backing vocal choir instead….I think we find the beauty in both of these settings. As long as we somehow sing together and with songs of empathy for others and not just individual needs and goals, we fit it into the hope singers.