What inspired the lyrics and melody of “She’s In My Head” originally, and how have those inspirations evolved for the re-release?
Lee: Originally, it was about an old ex of mine. Right love, wrong time. A lot of passion but too many lies. She became the muse for the song and gave me a lot of inspiration to tell my story. Later on, a lot of people commented and wrote to me that the song nails all their thoughts, anger, and hurt towards a person in their life or who has been in their life. So, I think the song can relate to most people; it doesn’t matter how old the song is.
Evan: I remember I wanted a small change in the melody from the one Lee came up with initially, but I just wanted to have that lower note on the word “mind” on the choruses. Lee was not sure about it but gave it a try. So, we only had 3 takes with the melody that ended up as the melody we used on the final version. But it was enough for having the lead vocal and two doubles for left and right channels as we usually produce the lead vox on the choruses.
Can you walk us through the creative process behind re-recording and editing “She’s In My Head”? What were the key decisions made?
Evan: The original version was one of the first songs we wrote together, and we knew it was a great song, and it turned up to be one of our top songs on Spotify and still is! However, back in 2020, we were still kind of rookies production-wise and we also just made a basic “in the studio” video. But we believe strongly in this track, and we think it is worth a great destiny. Therefore, it is about time we gave it a slightly more powerful costume but without changing too much as we want to keep the core vibe of the original as much as possible. But all drums are re-recorded with Bullen, and we laid down some more guitars and bass as well. The lead vocal is the original one as it was just great from the start! And we made a new video for it!
How do you feel the new version of the song captures the essence of the original while also bringing something fresh to the table?
Evan: We hope that all core elements that people love will still be there, but we first tried to improve on small things like making the intro and first verse slightly more interesting and “driving”. Then for the big change, we let the energy really flow on the choruses with more punchy drums, and more pumping guitars but still let Lee’s vocals lead the way!
Were there any particular challenges or breakthrough moments during the re-recording process of “She’s In My Head”?
Evan: The re-recordings went really well as we already had the target or benchmark so to speak, so it was just a matter of doing similar things just slightly better. Bullen was not playing on the original, so he had to listen to the original a couple of times to nail the drum pattern as we wanted it to be quite similar however with the extra touch and magic of Bullen! As we used the original lead vocals and much of the original backing vocals as well, it was a nice and smooth ride overall!
How do you think the changes made to “She’s In My Head” enhance its impact or resonance with listeners?
Lee: It’s our second most streamed song. People love it, so I hope that they love it even more now that it has a more modern twist to it. And don’t worry, the original will still exist.
Evan: First of all, we of course hope that all people liking the original would love the new version as well but then we hope that the rest of the 99.99% of the earth’s population who never have heard the original will love the song, no matter if it is a remake or a brand-new version. For most people, there will be a new sensation and hopefully, we will gain some new fans with this re-make!
What do you hope fans will take away from the re-release of “She’s In My Head” that they might not have from the original version?
Evan: We hope they will see it as improvements on all levels, like more interesting and more powerful in a good way. Of course, the original will still be there as well for those who prefer the original. But as we know the original is so popular we didn’t want to make too big changes on the new version.
Lee: It has more drive now. More anger on the guitar and drums.
Can you describe the evolution of the instrumentation or arrangement in the re-recorded version of “She’s In My Head”?
Evan: There is a new re-recorded guitar on the intro which plays on top of the violin’s melody and basically, I wanted it to tell the listener that this is a new version right from the start. You can say from bar 1 that this is the reloaded version when you hear the additional guitar.
Then we added two more electric guitars playing power chords in 8ths on the chorus along with two guitars playing on whole bars only as they were played on the original.
The drums are re-recorded but still have pretty similar patterns even though they are punchier this time. There are also some new, high-range backing vocals but you can barely hear it. Very low level in the mix. There is also a newly added Yamaha CP-80 electro-acoustic grand piano added to the choruses.
For the first verse, we are making this trick which is very common in dance music with filtering the drums. You sweep a filter to make the drums go from very muddy to brighter and brighter to build up tension up to the chorus, or to the drop they say in dance music. (laughs)
How do you approach balancing nostalgia for the original song with the desire to innovate and experiment in the re-release?
Evan: As the original indeed already is very popular there was no need to change too much. We just wanted to add some more energy to the chorus and make the overall sound a bit more professional basically.
Are there any specific moments or lyrics in “She’s In My Head” that hold new significance or meaning in the re-recorded version?
Lee: Before it was “my song”, my story, I mean it still is… But now it’s more for everyone. To the people that have that person they can’t forget, that haunts their mind and try to find answers to why it didn’t work. “An Anthem for the Broken-hearted.”
Evan: For me, there is this breakdown or middle 8, people are questioning what words Lee really sings. But I love that magic when you can hear different words which also gives it different meanings. So, if we wanted to have that “clinical perfect” version, we may have re-recorded the vocals on that part, but no, I love Lee’s performance on that part of the song.
What do you hope listeners will feel or experience when they hear the re-release of “She’s In My Head” for the first time?
Evan: Wow, what a great song, Let’s listen to it again!
Welcome to the musical world of Symphony Of Sweden!
Coming from the North of Sweden with winter and ice bears all over the place, the music is the other way around. Grand and epic with huge arrangements, the missing link between pop and metal – this is Symphony of Sweden! Add the powerful voice of Linus “Lee” Wester and the creative talent of Pontus “Evan” Hagberg you will have a concept that brings you on a journey from here to eternity.
Symphony Of Sweden is:
Pontus „Evan” Hagberg
Linus „Lee” Wester
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