Penny Police

She is a nice girl and a stubborn eccentric. A songwriter who wears her heart on her sleeve. With firm roots in the Danish folk tradition and psalms, Penny Police crafts quirky pop songs using the piano and autoharp. Despite taking cautious steps into her musical career, she has already been widely lauded both for her debut album, EP's and live concerts. From the very beginning, Penny Police has made her mark as one of the most distinct songwriters in Denmark with her eccentric pretty-girl-pop and personal mix of poetic folk and ambient pop music. Penny Police is the alias of the 28-year-old Copenhagen based singer and songwriter Marie Fjeldsted. In the fall 2009 Marie bought her electric autoharp and in 2010 Penny Police took shape. She popped up out of the blue with a home-made EP in 2011. She had kissed every copy with red lipstick and caused excitement with her intimate sound. In 2012, she created one of the most distinctive and acclaimed Danish album debuts – a debut which with its organic instrumentation, brilliantly balances between acoustics and ambience. The album was followed up by the uncompromisingly openhearted EP ‘Sink Or Sail’ in March this year. Her she refines the vulnerable sound she has taken on although, simultaneously, providing a more sinister and direct expression. On her new EP, Penny Police cuts straight to the bone of her inner life with the overall theme being about seizing or not seizing life; to be in a place where you can just as well sink as sail on. ‘Too Full A Heart’ is an example of a song about finding the energy to give up for a while; ‘I Do Care’ captures the struggles of continuously being overwhelmed by emotion; while ‘Run For Your Life’ is more life affirming. More than concrete therapeutic sessions, they are images from a young woman who dares to be on a “first name basis” with her demons. So yes, it is frail but also challenging and unpredictable. - My knack for melodies derives from my upbringing with folk high school songs and psalms. I have never listened to a great deal of music, which is why I do not have a clear-cut idea of what I should do, she says. At home in Ribe, the record collection of her parents did not go beyond a couple of Danish evergreens. However, they bought her a piano (which was impossible to get in tune) and gave her space in the basement where she could bustle about and pursue her musical interest. She was taught the piano by a strict Slovak lady; recorded her own songs with a cassette tape deck and used all of her confirmation money on a new piano. Meanwhile she was also taught how to play saxophone and church organ and through all this, a songwriter emerged who was completely her own. Penny Police was invited to the international recognized festival Iceland Airwaves Festival where she got this review for her performance: "Truly one of the most beautiful female vocalists at the Iceland Airwaves music festival. Marie Fjeldsted's vocals will send chills up your spine. Frank lyrics about adult needs, desires and pain top off this performance with world class musicians". (New Your Grapewine). At SPOT Festival she was mentioned in the English Mojo Magazine as one of the best acts and recently she won the American contest "The Freshmen" and the video to her song "As Long As You Watch My Heart" got into heavy rotation on national mtvU in the states. Penny Police has furthermore performed at Malmöfestival, Öresundsfestival, SPOT Festival and supported artists like Our Broken Garden and Guillemots and was chosen as one of VEGAs Udvalgte in 2012.