Portraits & Tales op ESNS 2025

Country rock and pop from the north of Sweden with the mission to invite you into an emotional journey through their lyrics and melodies.

Biography
For their passion for music, friends Jyrki Unhola and Alvaro Araya Leon began recording music. At first, it was intended as a hobby project that consisted of recording cover songs, but they quickly realized that they had something solid and good going on. The recordings, which started with very simple means, quickly developed into high-quality productions. Alvaro's unique sounds in his voice and guitar playing together with Jyrki's sense of tempo in his way of playing bass and curiosity for sound technology, made them together manage to create a whole new soundscape for already known songs.

In the summer of 2018, Alvaro met Malin Araya Frostfalk. It soon became known that they both shared a big passion for music and
Malins talent for adding vocals, became a huge access for Portraits & Tales. After been a trio for quite some time, the band invited Robin Lundberg as the fourth member. This decision was made after the band had done some live shows with robin. They felt that his playing style added so much to the band's sound, so they simply couldn't think of anything else but to invite Robin as a full band member.

On September 18, 2018, Portraits & Tales releases a cover of Uno Svenningsons – "Du kommer att ångra det här" on YouTube. In less than a week, it has reached over 4,000 views. By this time, it was clear to all members that Portraits & Tales was no longer a hobby band and that it was now time to take their music to a higher level. The band releases one more cover: Chris Isaaks - Wicked Game. Their cover version gest about the same response as their version of "Du kommer att ångra det här".
After releasing their second cover, P&T decides that it's time to start releasing their own material and on February 14, 2021, this is a fact.

Portraits & Tales releases their first original song "Only You" on Spotify and other music platforms. The song is released with accompanying video recorded by A&A productions. The song has received a good response on social media and contributed to P&T`s audience growing in form of new followers. In September 2021, P&T releases their second single, Struggle.

By the end of 2021, it was clear that P&T will start a collaboration with record label Bd Pop. Thanks to this collaboration, they now had the possibility to get their third single “Elsa” from their upcoming EP, produced and mixed by Patrik Heikinpieti (more known as the drummer of Mando Diao) at Patso productions studios. In May the 27th of 2022, the 4 track Ep titled “This is Portraits & Tales” was finally released.
In 2023 it was time for their 4th single “Suddenly” to see the day of light. The song received a massive respond from their fans. Much of it, was because the stop motion video created by A.and.A productions, which gave clarity to the meaning of the song.

Suddenly was followed by Portraits & Tales 5th single “What if I was” who was released in January 2024. This song made a huge impact on Portraits & Tales audience, which resulted in a massive spread by their fans. Portraits & Tales thinks that the reason for this, is the meaning of the song, which is a declaration of love to the bandmembers children. Portraits & Tales comments this respond with these words: “This is the ultimate kind of love you can ever feel for anyone, which any person who’s a parent, can relate to. But even if you don´t have children, this is the kind of song you dedicate to anyone you love and appreciate”.

Now the band is ready to show another side of themselves with their new single “Leave it all behind”. The band has put all their grit on this new song who encourage their listeners to leave old stuff in the past and move forward.

Currently, P&T is working hard, recording new songs in the studio. The main goal is to release at least 5 new songs during 2024.

Members:
Jyrki Unhola – Bass guitar and Sound Production.
Malin Araya Frostfalk – Vocals, Production and Songwriting
Alvaro Araya Leon - Guitar, Vocals, Production and Songwriting
Robin Lundberg – Guitar and Production

Career Highlights
During 2022, Portraits & Tales music was displayed on spotify in 92 countries and streamed 94 200 times by almost 5000 listeners.

Reviews
https://cultartes.com/what-if-i-was-a-bands-reflections-on-life-and-love-for-their-children/?fbclid=IwAR0BtRd9H-dVr3_cwfqo0PEZ8btcCghsH_U5YQxNC_1a5bkSb0ms55uOs-E
https://www.thesoundswontstop.com/portraits-tales?fbclid=IwAR024puqdqyH-cMM5Dr2nWZq1ybskJ_VD5wedrXh6J4kQxDzjZl8LqMsxGM
https://www.buzzslayers.com/post/portraits-and-tales
https://webimagineservice2.wixsite.com/website/post/artist-band-interview-portraits-and-tales
https://www.zonenights.com/2022/06/portraits-tales-gentle-soul-new-single/
Links
https://linktr.ee/portraitsandtales
https://epk.recordunion.com/portraits_tales
Contact
Alvaro Araya Leon
Tel: +46-703332097
E-post: portraitsandtales@gmail.com