Martina Edoff may not be a household name in North America, but she’s very well known in her native Sweden. However, her tour in the States with Epica last month was a good start. Dubbed the Nordic Queen of Rock, Martina has ridden in prestigious music circles in her own country for many years. After beginning her career as a backup singer for popular hip hop artist, Dr. Alban and Eurodance musician, E-type, she became a founding member of Swedish glam rock band The Poodles. 

After a few years break from the music scene, Edoff returns with her debut solo album, Unity (out now via Into Records). The project gave Edoff the opportunity to show off her rock roots. This combination proves catchy as the new single/video, “World Has Gone Mad,” is an infectious pop rock song with a poignant message. Edoff admitted that she had some great ammunition for the lyrical content.

“I decided long ago that I didn’t want to watch the news anymore,” Edoff confesses. “There’s always disaster everyday and I didn’t feel good about it. I wanted to scream at people because everybody is staring at a screen all the time and nobody’s really acting. I can’t do anything by myself and I’m not telling anybody to do anything, I just want people to wake up and to open their eyes to see what’s happening in the world. I had the melody in my head when I wrote the chorus line down. I burst out, and it just came out of me; ‘Oh my God, the world has gone mad!’”

Unity was recorded at the legendary Bohus Sound Studios in Sweden, where fellow Swedes ABBA recorded their albums. The popular quartet is a guilty pleasure for some metalheads. Plus, they were a huge influence on Edoff while growing up.

”I loved everything (by them) when I was little,” Edoff gleefully said. “ABBA has always been so together with their harmonies and melodies. The first impression of the music stayed. Then as I got older, I discovered that I liked rock music and something more heavier. But I’m glad their impression stayed. It was fun to go into the studio and record the album there because it’s this old fashioned studio. It’s a big room with an old feeling to it. It doesn’t come that way these days because everyone’s working just through computers, so it was nice to be there.”

Jona Tee (keyboard player in the Swedish hard rock group H.E.A.T and also a co-writer on Unity) has been by Edoff’s side from the beginning of this album. Tee brought his fellow band members in H.E.A.T to the recording sessions and was responsible for developing the sound that accompanies Edoff’s voice. Working with other musicians was a real treat for Edoff, especially once she realized how well the songs were coming together.

“It was wonderful,” Edoff exclaimed. “I never really listened much to the band H.E.A.T., so I was really surprised. When I listened to what they came up with, I was so happy that they were playing on my songs. I’m glad that they wanted to be there and do the recording. Working with Jona Tee was a good experience as well because he’s a bit younger than me, but he likes the same era (of music) that I like. But since he’s younger, he has this fresh new sound that he put on it.”

The 11 tracks that grace Unity are melodic, catchy and well-crafted. There’s a certain hard rock edginess to her pop-flavored tunes. “I said to (the musicians) that I would love to have a hard rock sound. Even though there are easy going melodies, I wanted there to be a heavy sound on it. So everybody worked to try and achieve that. I don’t know if it could have been heavier, but this is what it is. I’m really happy about everything about it and I’m sure that when we get on stage, everything will become much heavier.”

In the meantime, Edoff will continue writing and touring where ever she can. Her next goal is to be as big in the States as she is in Sweden. “After this step, I would love to come back to the U.S.,” Edoff concluded. “I want people to find us and the music interesting and I want them to ask for us to come back. That would be just awesome.”