TIM: How It Was Made
Last April, the Dance Music community lost one of its greatest pioneers, Avicii. Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling passed away with a rumored 150+ unreleased tracks. Many of these might not ever see the light of day. Luckily for us, it was revealed that a posthumous album titled “TIM” would be released, containing a sizable 12 tracks.
It is easy to say that 12 tracks are just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of unreleased music actually out there. However, being able to listen to new Avicii music period, is a great thing. In the buildup to the album release, the team in charge of Avicii’s music decided to release a “The Story Behind” series. Below is that series in all of its glory.
If you haven’t listened to “TIM” yet, this might be a cool thing to spend some time on, as it truly gives you some insight into his production workflow, as well as how the tracks were completed after his passing.
How It Was Made
Opening up the series is a video featuring Avicii’s father, Klas Bergling. Klas opens up about when Avicii first started producing, and how natural he seemed to be at it. We also get a couple of words from the President of Universal Music, Nordic region Per Sundin on the planned album release. We’re happy to say this album finally saw the light of day.
Peace Of Mind
“Peace Of Mind” features co-producers/co-songwriters Vargas & Lagola who previously worked with Tim on ‘Waiting For Love’, ‘Hey Brother’, ‘Without You’, and many more. They speak about how the track features a Red Hot Chili Pepper/ LA Hippie influence. After listening, its easy to see where they are coming from.
Tough Love
The second single off of the track, also featuring Vargas & Lagola. In this video, they speak on how the Bergling family wanted the tracks on this album to be as close to the demos as possible. They further elaborate on the production of this track, the societal meaning behind it, and how Chris Martin urged and how he urged Vincent Pontare to sing on the track. It also features a pretty neat violin too.
SOS
The first single off of ‘Tim’, this track features longtime collaborator Aloe Blacc. You might remember him from his track ‘Wake Me Up’ which charted worldwide. This video features Co-Songwriters & Co-Producers Kristoffer Fogelmark & Albin Nedler who worked with Tim on ‘Pure Grinding’. Being the lead single off the album its neat to see how it came together.
Bad Reputation
‘Bad Reputation‘ features Co-Songwriter & Co-Producer Carl Falk. He worked with Avicii on ‘Without You’ ‘Talk To Myself’ & ‘Broken Arrows‘. He speaks on how he had nothing to reference or go from other than the demos, and his friendship with Tim. It’s rather beautiful to hear the finished product keeping this in mind.
Ain’t A Thing
‘Ain’t A Thing’ is another track that features Carl Falk, and it is funny to hear him state that ‘Working with Tim was never easy”. Known for being a perfectionist, its easy to see why his music is as timeless as it is.
Excuse Me Sir
Featuring Vargas & Lagola once again, this track originally started out with the name ‘Freak’. ‘Excuse Me Sir’ is an intimate view into Avicii’s songwriting process as his collaborators go on the record to state that “…he valued every note” says loads about the effort Avicii put into his world-renowned melodies.
Fades Away
‘Fade Away’ once again features Carl Falk, and he states that this was the first song they worked on together. The track opens with Avicii’s signature strings, and we are loving it. This will definitely be one we have on repeat.
Freak
Longtime Martin Garrix collaborator Bonn, makes his way onto ‘Tim’ by the way of his track ‘Freak’ with Avicii. Featuring Co-Songwriters & Co-Producers Kristoffer Fogelmark & Albin Nedler, this track is gold.
Heart Upon My Sleeve
One of the biggest tracks on this album, ‘Heart Upon My Sleeve’ features Las Vegas natives Imagine Dragons. This is originally a track that saw a release on Tim’s debut album ‘True’, so it’s neat to see the American Rock Band on this one.
Never Leave Me
Once again featuring Co-Songwriters & Co-Producers Kristoffer Fogelmark & Albin Nedler, they further cement that Tim was unlike any other producer they have ever worked with. ‘Never Leave Me’ was the last song they worked on with him, as well as the last track he worked on before leaving to Oman.
Hold The Line
‘Hold The Line’ features collaborator, Lucan Von Bahder who has actually known Tim since the age of 17. He opens up about how his music has progressed, and how at one point his music was a “very bubble gum trance”. Seeing the trajectory of his career, it’s insane to think he didn’t come out of the womb a master. This track is a little bass heavy, so it definitely sticks out.
Heaven
What is perhaps the most looked forward to track on the whole album, is his track ‘Heaven‘. It turns out that this track came about during his sessions with the legendary band Coldplay. In this video, we get some words from Neil Jacobson, who is the head from Geffen Records on how it came about, and the urgency from Coldplay/ Chris Martin after Avicii’s passing.
While it is a fantastic day to be an Avicii fan, no amount of music can bring him back. The closest we can get is through his music, hopefully, we see some more very soon. Until then, Enjoy ‘Tim’. Avicii’s posthumous album “Tim” is out now, and can be streamed here, enjoy.
