INFO:
Joseph Tholl is widely known as a Swedish multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He gained international recognition as a founding member and guitarist for the speed metal band Enforcer (officially leaving in 2019). Following his time with Enforcer, he formed Black Trip (later Vojd) and is currently playing guitar for Tribulation.
Following 2019’s “Devil’s Drum”, “It Might Be Art” is his second solo album (also the second for High Roller Records). “My original idea was to release the follow-up album much earlier,” comments the multi-instrumentalist regarding the long gap between the two records, “but I joined Tribulation in 2020 and have done an album and an EP with them along with touring. Also, I’ve done two albums with Tyrann and I became a father a few years back so it has been hard to find the right time up until now.” Busy times for the Swede indeed.
“”Devil’s Drum” war received very well at the time,” he continues. “It was something quite different from most things I’ve done before, but people seem to receive it in a positive way and reviews were really good. The album came out right before the pandemic, but we did get to play a successful show at ‘Hell Over Hammaburg’ and a few shows around Sweden around the album release.”
On “It Might Be Art” Joseph Tholl is singing, playing guitar and most of the bass, he also handles piano and synthesizer parts. Robert Eriksson (The Hellacopters) and Jakob Ljungberg (Second Sun) share drum duties on this album. Besides that, there’s a few guest appearances by musicians such as Johannes Andersson (Tribulation), Tobias Lindkvist (Tyrann), Pia Stjärnvind (Serpent Omega), Adam Zaars (Tribulation) and Robert Pehrsson (Dundertåget, Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker).
Joseph Tholl’s second studio album “It Might Be Art” was recorded and mixed at Humbucker Studio, which he co-owns with Robert Pehrsson (who’s also on High Roller Records): “Robert works there full time recording and mixing other bands whereas I mostly record my own music in there. The album was recorded during November and December 2025. Robert has engineered during the drum recordings, and he has mixed and mastered the album. For the rest, I’m producing and engineering myself most of the time. But it’s always great to have Robert in the room next door whenever you need input on an idea or a sound.”
A lot of you may have wondered what the album title is all about: “It Might Be Art”. There is a funny story attached to that: “It comes from a moment in my youth when I was hanging out with my dear friend Johannes from Tribulation at his home. His parents are artists, and their home was filled with art. There was a bowl on the table with two apples in it and I asked if I could eat one of them and Johannes replied ‘hmm, I’m not sure, it might be art.’ I’ve always kept that in mind as a funny and thoughtful saying, and it suited well as a title for this album and the title track. The artwork is inspired by the title, combining an old painting I bought second hand together with a portrait painted of me by my friend Mats Davidsson.”
Most of the material for the album was written between January and March 2025, with some exceptions: “A few ideas have been lying around for a longer time. ‘The Burial’ for example was written straight after the release of “Devil’s Drum” in 2019.”
“There are definitely similarities to the previous album but “It Might Be Art” takes it all to another level”, comments the singer/guitarist/bassist/keyboard player. “I wouldn’t want to hold back on anything here. Reaching new realms of writing is very important to me. And yes, very liberating to just let go of what people might expect.”
“There’s a bit of a theme throughout the album,” he continues, “it’s really a record about life and the trials most of us go through at some point. I wanted the album to feel like a journey through darkness, death, birth, love, despair, hope and so on. All the songs are very important and different from each other. Every song handles a certain theme in its own way, both lyrically and musically. But if I had to introduce the album with just three songs I’d might say ‘New Dawn’, ‘Invocation Of The Evening Star’ and ‘It Might Be Art’. There’s a lot of big melodic choruses on this record. I wanted the songs to sound grand and straight forward.”
The keyboard work on the record is pretty prominent, although it’s not very upfront in the mix … it was probably planned like this, wasn’t it? “That’s right,” answers the Swede. “I wanted it to be a guitar-driven record but to add atmosphere with synthesizers. For a lot of songs, it’s quite subtle but there’s also songs like ‘It Might Be Art” where it’s actually the main element.”
Some of the tracks, like “I’m In A Darkness”, sound rather melancholic. So, is “It Might Be Art” a melancholic album? “It’s both darker and brighter than »Devil’s Drum«, comes the answer. “Musically it probably sounds a little brighter and poppy overall. But then there’s songs like ”I’m In A Darkness” or ‘The Burial’, which are very dark.”
At times, influences of Sisters Of Mercy, The Cure, New Model Army and Midnight Oil can be detected on “It Might Be Art”. Joseph Tholl ponders: “It’s incredibly hard to name a few bands as influences, there’s just too many. Besides those bands you mentioned, there’s a mix of grunge, heavy metal, Swedish pop/rock, AOR etc., that I mold into my own kind of rock n roll.”
Joseph Tholl thinks that despite its broad variety “It Might Be Art” is still suitable for heavy metal fans: “I couldn’t see why not. I mean it’s not heavy metal. But I hope people will like it for what it is, a very honest and well-crafted melodic rock album.”
Joseph Tholl- “It Might Be Art” HRR1051
GENRE: Hard Rock
ORDER LINK HERE
SINGLES/ VIDEOS:
“I Syrenens Tid” Watch Video HERE
“It Might Be Art” Watch Video HERE
“New Dawn” Watch Video HERE
TRACKLISTING:
01 New Dawn
02 Oh the Madness
03 I’m in a Darkness
04 Invocation of the Evening Star
05 Walking
06 It Might be Art
07 I Syrenens Tid
08 Rebirth
09 On Velvet Waves
10 The Burial
ON-LINE:
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https://www.hrrecords.de/JOSEPH-THOLL
