Hasse Fröberg and Musical Companion – “Eternal Snapshots”

Hasse Fröberg has returned with his band, The Musical Companion. Eternal Snapshots, the band’s sixth album, was released June 6^th, on Glassville Records. From the band’s press release: “The idea of forming a new band started sometime in 2008,” says Hasse. “I had a handful of new songs, and more were coming regularly.” The idea started to take shape and in 2009 Hasse Fröberg and Musical Companion (in short: HFMC) started to play and prepare for what later became their debut album Future Past (2010)”.

2024 marks the forty-year anniversary since Hasse released his first full length album. What can be better to celebrate forty years as a recording artist than to release a new one? The new HFMC record Eternal Snapshots is the band’s sixth studio album. It’s a concept album that deals with questions such as how do we become who we are. Is everything predetermined? Is destiny involved in our lives? The title Eternal Snapshots reflects over the fact that new fate of lives is being born every second, and here we get to follow two of them.

HFMC is: Hasse Fröberg, on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; Sampo Axelsson, on bass guitar; Kjell Haraldsson, on keyboards, piano, organs; Anton Lindsjö, on guitars; Ola Strandberg, on drums and backing vocals.

Hasse is well known for his contribution for more than two decades as singer/guitarist in The Flower Kings, as well as his work with the Swedish hard rock band Spellbound during the eighties.

Eternal Snapshots was produced by Hasse Fröberg and Petrus Könningson. Backing tracks were recorded @ Nevo Studios, Sundsvall, Sweden Limited Deluxe. The box set was engineered by Petrus Könningson. The album was mixed by Petrus Könningson and Hasse Fröberg @ The Little Red Country: Sweden Cottage Label. Glassville Records mastered by Henrik Heinrich @ Nevo Studios. Distribution: Dutch Music Works Management – Johnny Taxén for Rockwater Productions. Artwork design and layout: Martin Högvall and Ola Strandberg. Band photo: Alf Strandberg photo editing. Sampo Alexson piano and keyboards on ‘Only For Me’.

This is another great album from the HFMC. Every track is full of lyrics of wisdom, learned after years of living a full life. Hasse has designed an album full of memories and sounds that will take you back to The Flower Kings epic sounds, and all of the albums HFMC has made over the last 40 years. He really pulled from his historical perspective, and his current experience, to originate new and innovative sounds for Eternal Snapshots. Yes, this is a great album, if you love HFMC’s other five albums. This album helps summarize where they have been to already, while at the same time, points fans in the direction of where the band wants to go in the future. Hasse, several times eludes to wanting to go on, and make more music, so this can be listened to as a new beginning, as well as a celebration of the travels already made.

My favorites included: “All I wanted to Be – Part 1”, the opener, because it lays the foundation of where the album will go and its purpose. “Deserve to Be Happy”, is another great song about being grateful for all you have accomplished and where you have been. “Once in a Lifetime”, is another bold song offering Hasse’s memories of the past and hopes for the future. Besides, it opens with the sounds of the ocean with cool keyboards. “The Yard” is a great instrumental voyage, full of deep bass, wonderful keyboards, and drumming, complete with cowbell. On this album Hasse seems to include more sounds of the ocean. Maybe it is the recordings he made while walking the beaches of Sweden. “The Sorrowful Mariner”, is an instrumental which almost took me back to Procol Harum; complete with what sounds like pipe organ. Thank you for that! “Blind Dog”, is Hasse’s “Black Dog”, rocker. All in all, this is a great release. If you enjoyed HFMC’s other albums, Eternal Snapshots, is for you. So, what are you waiting for?