Tina Dico Releases BALANCING SMALL THINGS ON SHARP EDGES

A bad mood at the breakfast table can ripple through a whole household by lunch. A kind word can do the same. That idea sits at the heart of 'Balancing Small Things On Sharp Edges,' the new album from Danish singer and songwriter Tina Dico, out now in North America through DMP/Fontana North/Universal Music Canada. It's her first release on a Canadian label, and she celebrated with three sold out Canadian album launch concerts: two nights at Ottawa's Red Bird, and a return to Toronto at the Allied Music Centre Theatre at Massey Hall.

Five times a chart topper in Denmark, Dico made the album with her husband and musical partner, Helgi Jonsson, at Big Spring Studio, their home studio in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. It's a record about connection, family, time and uncertainty, and the act of keeping your balance in a world that never stops talking.

Lead single 'Surfing' captures that feeling. 'To me, 'Surfing' is about how we're all connected,' Dico says. 'You feel it every day in a family, where every person's mood, character, words and actions affect everyone else. But it's obviously true on a much bigger scale. What one person throws into the world ripples outward. We're one big ocean of movement, all trying to keep our balance.'

Dico sings and plays acoustic guitar on 'Surfing.' Jonsson plays electric guitars, piano, synths, vibraphone, percussion and trombones and adds backing vocals. Dennis Ahlgren plays electric guitars, bass and percussion, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen is on drums, Klemens Bittmann on violin and Unnur Jónsdóttir on cello. The couple produced and arranged it together, and Jonsson engineered, mixed and mastered the track.

The album's second single, 'This Fire!,' finds Dico teaming up for the first time with fellow Iceland-based artist Emilíana Torrini, the voice behind the global hit 'Jungle Drum' and 'Gollum's Song' from The Lord of the Rings. Dico wrote it about the freedom that arrives once the newness of a long career fade.

'When you've had a long career, there comes a time when you realise you can never be new again,' she says. 'You can get better, braver, more skilled, more yourself, but you can't recreate that first moment when people discovered you. 'This Fire!' dives into what replaces that newness: character, freedom and a fire that burns steadily and no less fiercely.'

Torrini was the only choice for the duet. 'I thought of Emilíana because she's been a musical hero of mine since I started out, and during my years in Iceland she's also become a great friend,' Dico says. 'Somehow, she feels like the perfect person to sing this song with. I love the way she keeps moving as an artist, always curious, always exploring and with that fire completely intact.'

After more than two decades of making records, Dico approaches this release with a refreshing sense of calm. 'Releasing music today is very different from twenty years ago,' she says. 'Everything moves so fast, and there's always something new asking for people's attention. I'm not really trying to compete with that. At this point I feel like I'm simply adding to the story. New conversations and a new chapter. The songs are there for anyone who wants to spend time with them... and hopefully come and spend time with us at the concerts. That's where the magic really unfolds for me!'

Canada has always held a special place in her story. Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen were among her earliest influences, and almost two decades ago she met Jonsson while they were both performing in Canada. She was a standout at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival this July and shared the stage with KT Tunstall at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2024. Becoming a mother has changed the way she writes and tours too. She says she now steps onstage as a whole person, rather than an artist whisking through town.

Born in Aarhus, Denmark, Dico grew up surrounded by music thanks to a hi-fi obsessed father who bought records purely for their sound quality. She fell for Tracy Chapman, Donovan and Joni Mitchell, while soaking up opera and traditional Danish songs along the way. Her first teenage songs were captured on an old reel to reel tape machine with a microphone her father built. She joined her first band at 15 and later studied at music college, where a televised talent competition brought calls from record labels. She chose to release her music on her own terms instead.

That instinct paid off. Her self-released 2003 EP, 'Notes,' spread by word of mouth and earned her a Danish Grammy for Best Songwriter. In London she sang with ambient electronica act Zero 7 on their album 'When It Falls,' touring with them all the way to Glastonbury. Her first full-length album, 'In The Red,' went to #1 in Denmark in 2006, the first of five chart-topping albums that also include 'Count To Ten,' 'Welcome Back Colour' and 'Fastland.' She fulfilled a lifelong dream by recording at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios and performed for then Crown Prince Frederik's 50th birthday celebration. In April she sold out Copenhagen's 15,000 seat Royal Arena.