Interview: Jackie Leven er tilbake sterkere enn noen gang

By its own account the first and only Norwegian newspaper interview with Leven after his comeback (Fremtiden 03.05.1995). Andreassen had put The Mystery of Love in third place on his 1994 year-end list. Leven tells the story of the attack like this: at two in the morning he left the studio and wanted to walk home, was attacked and almost strangled, for two or three years he could neither speak nor sing, and he endured a severe depression only with constant heroin; years of training in the “Alexander Technique” repaired his voice. He describes the centre he founded, The Core Trust, which treats all kinds of addiction with acupuncture, among other things.

On his helpers: Mike Scott later rescued the Core project with badly needed money, and a joint album is under discussion; Robert Bly he has admired since he was 16 and regards as the greatest performer of his time. Leven left Scotland as a teenager to escape gangs and fights; on his return he found a changed country with a better relationship between women and men, and Scottish men now had to free themselves from English dominance. He sees close ties between Norway and Scotland (Shetland, the north-east), hopes for a tour or an Oslo concert in early March with his keyboard friend “James Halliway”, and announces the next album, The Year I Left My Heart, for April – he has asked Van Morrison to take part.