The Swedish artist Kendra Egerbladh confirms her impeccable knack for songwriting with this record crafted around acoustic guitar and piano, enhanced by bowed strings and brass.
When we first encounter Kendra Egerbladh, alias Waterbaby, in 2023 with her debut EP Foam, Sub Pop had already secured the win. The legendary Seattle label noticed the Swede after a few collaborations with Seinabo Sey or Hannes (Stockholmsvy racks up tens of millions of plays), and that was all it took to persuade the Weyes Blood parent label to sign her.
Modest in appearance, Waterbaby’s autotuned ballads carry treasure troves of arrangements and catchy pop refrains (the swoops of Airforce Blue and the hypnotic sirens of 911). With Memory Be a Blade, her first album that traverses every nook of romantic feeling, Waterbaby remains faithful to this richly arranged pop program, yet one might swear it was recorded on a dictaphone, like a Sufjan Stevens record.
Somewhere Between Feist and Smerz
Somewhere between the starkness of Feist’s Let It Die period (2004) and the more contemporary hush of Smerz’s Big City Life (2025), this album—simply built around a guitar and a piano, augmented by bowed strings and brass—manages to amplify all its effects through the sheer power of its flawless songwriting.
As if she could push her chamber pop to stand on the same footing as stars like Clairo (the title track) or SZA (Clay), without ever surrendering the stark, surgically precise edge of this delicately wrought, skin-deep record.
Memory Be a Blade (Sub Pop/Modulor). Out on March 6. Live at POPUP! by the Label, Paris, on April 16.
