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Eivør Releases New Album ‘Segl’ – “Let It Come” Feat. On NPR ‘New Music Friday’ Playlist

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New York, NY (September 18, 2020) – Today, Faroese electro-folk-pop artist Eivør has released her new album Segl via BFD/The Orchard/Kobalt – available on all digital platforms here.

Including co-production from Lana Del Rey collaborator Dan Heath, and featuring a guest appearance from ÁsgeirSegl is the follow-up to Eivør’s widely-praised 2017 release Slør, which triggered her debut appearance on Later….With Jools Holland. Eivør soundtracks the current series of Netflix/BBC flagship The Last Kingdom (co-written with Ivor Novello/BAFTA-nominated John Lunn), and her music has previously been synched on Homeland and Game Of Thrones alongside hit video games Metal Gear Survive and God Of War.

Eivør is an artist perfectly attuned to the savage vicissitudes of nature. Born & raised in Syðrugøta, a tiny community of just over 400 people on one of the northerly Faroe Islands, Eivør grew up surrounded by the windswept landscape of the North Atlantic, a backdrop that has deeply influenced the elemental electronica she creates. Segl  Eivør’s ninth album, since releasing her debut at just 17 – builds on these motifs, exploring the journeys we undertake, both metaphorically and physically. The title – meaning “sail” in Faroese – alludes to our desire for growth and direction, and the role of fate. “You have to hoist your own sail,” notes Eivør; “but you cannot control the wind.”

Eivør immersed herself in music from 13, fronting a trip-hop band after discovering seminal albums by Massive Attack and Portishead. Gigs soon followed, held afloat in rowing boats, in the pitch-black darkness of a huge cave on the island of Hestur. At 16 she quit school, moving alone to Reykjavik to release her debut album and pursue classical singing training. Eivør has since won the Icelandic Music Prize, twice – the first non-Icelandic artist to do so.

Such itinerant tendencies have bled into her music, Segl no exception. “My creative process can be very chaotic and abstract, so I need to find the space to dive deeper into it and sculpt it,” she says. “After sitting on songs for a year or more, I’d go in and edit the melody or the lyrics. Sometimes the production too. The whole album is very much about change, so it’s quite apt.”

Working closely again with composer/producer Tróndur Bogason (also her husband), the extra space allowed Eivør to explore programming and production more thoroughly than ever before. She pulled apart the writing process, focusing on a free flow of ideas, and enriching collaborations with other writers and producers.

The impetus to seize control of life is writ large across SeglSleep On It heads off insomnia with stabs of synthesiser and an exhortation for clear-sightedness, whilst Let It Come harnesses inner power to deal with whatever life throws your way. Elsewhere, “Mánasegl” counsels in clear terms, taking its title from a Faroese word for “moonsail,” the highest sail found on square rigged clippers, and also known as the hope sail.

Eivør’s working partnership with Golden Globe nominee Dan Heath brings Segl to a spine-tingling conclusion on “Gullspunnin” – with lyrics written by Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjælnes and a title meaning “cocooned in gold,” it transmits the essence of the islands – as Eivør puts it; “The magic play of light, fog, and astonishing contrasts that are unique to The Faroes”. Other collaborations across Segl see Ásgeir accompany on vocals, while Einar Selvik of Wardruna, adds sonorous depth to “Stirdur Saknur.” “I wanted to be very playful,” says Eivør; “Visiting other people’s creative world, and inviting them into mine. Something magical happens when two different worlds meet, it expands the space. And it’s full of contrast; that’s quite interesting to me.”

Vic

Editor / Writer / Producer For Drop the Spotlight