Posts Tagged ‘Norse’

Watch: ‘Himinndotter’ by Wardruna

Posted: 20 September 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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From the deep woods now emerges Birna, Wardruna’s sixth studio album. Through his restless dialogue with nature, main composer Einar Selvik has been searching for the voice of the bear, resulting in this upcoming release, scheduled for January 2025.

Birna – the she-bear in Old Norse – is a work of art dedicated to the guardian of the forest, nature’s caretaker, and her battles here on earth. Slowly driven out of her habitat by modern day societies, she has entered a stage of permanent hibernation. As a result, the forest is gradually dying, longing for its pulse and heart – its shepherd. Birna calls for her return.

“Where the previous album Kvitravn was a step conceptually from the past to the present, Birna even more so seeks to address the here and now and the way forward,” states composer Einar Selvik.

Alongside the album announcement is a new single and music video for "Himinndotter," the song constitutes a search and a calling for our lost sister of the woods. Composer Einar Selvik states “Himinndotter (Sky-daughter) is part of a six-song exploration of the bear on Wardruna’s upcoming album Birna (She-bear). The title plays on the globally common notion of the bears mythical origin as a celestial being. Himinndotter features a guest appearance of the Norwegian choir Koret Artemis.”

The video for ‘Himinndotter’ is filmed in Rondane National Park in Norway and is once again directed by Wardruna’s longtime collaborator Tuukka Koski, and produced by Breakfast Helsinki and Ragnarok Film.

Watch the video for ‘Himinndotter’ here:

Wardruna live in 2024/2025

USA & Latin America 2024:
03 Oct – Morrison (CO), USA – Red Rocks Amphitheatre with special guest: Chelsea Wolfe
06 Oct – Mexico City, Mexico – Auditorio BB – SOLD OUT
09 Oct – Santiago de Chile, Chile – Teatro Caupolican
12 Oct – São Paulo, Brazil – Terra SP

Europe 2024:
07 Nov – Milano, Italy – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
08 Nov – Zurich, Switzerland – The Hall
09 Nov – Paris, France – Salle Pleyel with special guest: Jo Quail – SOLD OUT
11 Nov – Hamburg, Germany – Laeiszhalle – SOLD OUT
12 Nov – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom
14 Nov – Lyon, France – Amphithéâtre 3000
15 Nov – Frankfurt am Main, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
16 Nov – Nürnberg, Germany – Meistersingerhalle – SOLD OUT
17 Nov – Wien, Austria – Konzerthaus
19 Nov – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal – SOLD OUT
20 Nov – Halle, Germany – Händelhalle
21 Nov – Prague, Czech Republic – Forum Karlin
23 Nov – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Vredenburg – SOLD OUT
24 Nov – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Vredenburg – SOLD OUT
26 Nov – Düsseldorf, Germany – Tonhalle – SOLD OUT

Australia & New Zealand 2025:
23 Jan – Melbourne – Palais Theatre
25 Jan – Sydney – Enmore Theatre
27 Jan – Brisbane – Fortitude Music Hall
30 Jan – Auckland – Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre

UK & Ireland 2025 (with special guest Jo Quail):
17 Mar – Liverpool –Philharmonic
18 Mar – Birmingham – Symphony Hall
19 Mar – London – Royal Albert Hall
21 Mar – Bristol – Beacon
22 Mar – York – Barbican
23 Mar – Dublin – Olympia Theatre
25 Mar – Glasgow – SEC Armadillo

Norway 2025:
26 Apr – Oslo – Operaen – SOLD OUT
27 Apr – Oslo – Operaen – SOLD OUT
29 Apr – Trondheim – Olavshallen
02 May – Kristiansand – Kilden
03 May – Stavanger – Konserthuset
04 May – Bergen – Grieghallen

Europe 2025:
07 June – Reyjavik – Harpa
30 Jul – 03 Aug – Rasnov – Rockstadt Extreme Fest

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Photo credit: Morten Munthe

Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne – Hildring

Posted: 1 December 2021 in Albums
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By Norse – 26th November 2021

Christopher Nosnibor

Hildring is the second album by Wardruna vocalist Lindy-Fay Hella with musicians Dei Farne. It’s been a long time in the making, with ‘Taag’ dropping as a single back in the summer of 2020. But what is time when the world is off its keel and the world is spinning at a different pace, one so rapid we’ve lost touch with our innermost selves? Lindy-Fay Hella and Dei Farne connect with a past world, a time before technology: not necessarily a more primitive time, but a time in which there was a closer connection to earth and nature, and also to the inner self, the core spirit.

‘Hildring’ is the Norwegian word for mirage, and it’s fitting, for despite the solid, tribal percussion that dominates the sound, paired with solid, chunky basslines, the remaining musical elements are fleeting, flitting, mellifluous, transient, impossible to grasp a firm hold of.

That isn’t to say the album is all airy atmosphere and no substance: quite the opposite, in fact, there’s a sturdiness and density to the richly layered compositions, and it’s a very fine balance of the seemingly separate elements, namely the solid, and the ethereal and airy. The drumming is immense, ribcage-rattling, rousing. There is a wonderfully rich, earthy quality to Hildring. In keeping with Wardruna’s quest to explore Norse cultural and esoteric traditions by delving into ancient history and mythology, so in this collaborative project Lindy-Fay Hella continues that focus. The sound is modern, but the album is deeply evocative as echoes of the ancient resonate forward through every note, and you feel the aura of generations past around your being as you listen. It resonates in ways beyond expression, beyond lived experience. It’s deep, and it’s powerful, and strikes a resonant chord from the off with the percussion-led title track, where soaring vocals and a driving bass melt together amidst spacious waves of sound, and it sets the bar and the form.

In something of a shift from the overarching style, ‘Insect’ feels rather more overtly electronic, with skittering glow-worm flickers flitting hither and thither, but it’s still packing a rare emotional intensity.

‘Compositionally, ‘Briising’ is minimal; drums, bass, sweeping, droning synth, and incidental cymbals accompany a balanced, inwardly-focused vocal performance. There’s a menacing, growling vocal that is again otherworldly, and if not scary, then unsettling. ‘I return to fire’, he repeats in a dark, gravelled monotone.

‘Taag’ goes big on the expansive sound, and it’s sweeping, immense, immersive. It’s bordering on the grandiosity of post-rock, and propelled by urgent drumming. Elsewhere, the sparse, looping synth of the appropriately-titled ‘Otherworld’ is relentless and resonant.

Throughout, Lindy-Fay’s vocals are outstanding, and the album showcases her remarkable vocal dexterity. Often light and airy and floating and soaring above all layers of human perception, Hildring is magical, mystical, beautiful, majestic, and powerful. There, I managed to not to use ‘epic’!

AA

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