Annika Norlin’s novel The Colony is a startlingly dark and moving debut.
The New York Times wrote of the book:
“A disturbing, engrossing portrait of a tiny community living beyond society. Too often novels packed with this many ideas sacrifice emotion in favor of mounting a ponderous argument; Norlin instead writes visceral episodes that speak for themselves.”
In her own words, here is Annika Norlin’s Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel The Colony:
Jens Lekman and I did a project a couple of years ago where we wrote each other letters in the form of songs. The rules were very strict: we each had to write one song every two months, and we could only use one instrument per song. I was worn out from working too hard on various projects, and the year before Jens and I started working on Correspondence, I actually googled:
“human + hibernation”
That’s what it felt like. I just wanted to be cut off from the world—away from the news, the noise, and the harsh strip lights. So I wrote a song to Jens about that feeling, and later on, I also used it for my novel.
The Colony is not an autobiographical book, but this exact feeling—the longing to be alone in the forest—is what I based Emelie on. She’s a burned-out journalist who flees up north to live in the woods. There, she encounters a strange group of people who live together and call themselves The Colony.
Pino – Otto A Totland
Because I’m originally a songwriter, I often miss music while writing fiction. So I rely on having a soundtrack. My friend, the Swedish poet Pernilla Berglund, gave me great advice: if you’re writing an entire book, you need something that puts you in the same mood every day so your writing doesn’t feel scattered.
So every day while writing The Colony, I listened to the same instrumental albums by Norwegian pianist Otto A Totland. I actually met him once and told him we wrote a book together. He was very nice but probably just thought I was weird.
Ave Maria – Bach, performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin
Give me any Bach recording, and I’ll take it. When you’re listening to Bach while writing, it makes you feel like your words are magical. It’s like a filter.
This one, in particular, I listened to while writing all the parts of The Colony that were about nature or love.
To Apeiron – Weils
I also listened a lot to a Swedish band called Weils that makes slow, meditative music. At their concerts, they play with their eyes closed, moving slowly. They call it “blues in major,” which sounds awful but actually isn’t.
Full på dan – Annika Norlin, Jonas Teglund
I liked the Weils album so much that I ended up making a record with Jonas Teglund, their main songwriter. It’s in Swedish, but you might like it anyway. It’s called En tid att riva sönder, which translates to A Time to Tear Down. Jonas and I wrote the album while I was writing The Colony, so the processes are somewhat intertwined for me.
For this song, Full på dan (Swedish for Day Drunk), we tried to capture that exact feeling of being nineteen, in love, drinking a beer in the daytime, and feeling like life is amazing. But at some point during the day, you sober up, and the daylight hits your eyes mercilessly.
Here You Come Again – Dolly Parton
I love Dolly Parton and her lyrics, even though this one was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Everyone’s been in love with someone so charismatic that all your good intentions go flying out the door.
There’s also something deeply romantic about this—the way your rational brain doesn’t stand a chance, even though you know you’ll probably regret it.
For The Colony, I thought about what it would be like to actually be one of these people who wrap your heart around their little fingers. So I created a leader figure called Sara who has this quality: everyone wants to be around her. I was inspired by ants while developing the story—every ant colony has a queen.
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
I once read something mind-blowing: the number one reason people don’t leave a bad situation— whether it’s a relationship, a job, or something else—is that they feel they’ve already invested too much time and effort to walk away.
It sounds absurd—until you realize you’ve done the same thing a million times.
I thought about this song while writing about the members of The Colony and why they’re so committed to staying.
“I’ve been afraid of changing / ‘Cause I built my life around you / … I’m getting older, too.”
Woman’s Figure – Lord Kitchener
I listen to a lot of calypso music, mainly Harry Belafonte and Lord Kitchener. As a lyrics nerd, I tend to gravitate toward three genres: hip-hop, country, and calypso.
Calypso is great because it often has humor in it. I remember thinking that a character like Aagny in The Colony should feel like a calypso song—life is cruel, but she’s doing her best, swinging and laughing.
Djinghis Khan (English version) – Vikingarna
As a lover of lyrics, something I often amuse myself with is the strange fact that ’70s disco songs, for some reason unbeknownst to all, were pretty often about historical events. Djinghis Khan was one of history’s worst rulers, and he and his family members supposedly raped so many women that 0.5 percent of all people still carry his genes. This is obviously a great story for a grooving tune, thought these songwriters.
So I was happy to write this song into a scene in The Colony. The house where the members of The Colony stay has records in it—but only old records, nothing current. After a meeting with a common enemy, they put this on.
Habibi – Loney Dear
Feeling-wise, an inspiration for The Colony’s József. A mixture of warmth and sadness.
Song I Made Up to Stop Myself from Having a Panic Attack Just Now – Field Medic, Rich
At the time I was writing The Colony, I was in an all-women’s choir. The choir was like being embraced by a soft hug. Sometimes, we’d sing this song a cappella while walking around the room for ten minutes, eyes closed.
Anxiety plays a big part in The Colony. Most of the members of The Colony aren’t escaping the cities to gain something but rather to get away from something. I’ve been fortunate enough not to have much anxiety in my life, but the times I have had it, I’ve wondered why we don’t talk about it more. It’s the worst feeling there is. And it’s a hard feeling to deal with in ordinary life—there’s just no room for it.
World on Fire – Nina June
I’ve been interested in environmental issues for some time, and in The Colony, I tried to write about our emotional connection to the forest. I’ve actively been trying to find music about the environment and climate issues, but I keep failing miserably—there’s almost none, and the songs that do exist are often extremely dull.
I like this one by Dutch singer Nina June, though, where she goes: World on fire / Everybody knows. It’s the sad truth. We do know, and we do absolutely nothing about it.
Annika Norlin is an author, songwriter, and artist from Sweden. She releases music under her own name, as well as in the projects Säkert! and Hello Saferide. Her short story collection, I See Everything You Do, was nominated for numerous awards. The Colony is her first novel.