Eivør performs on the world’s largest stages. She has serenaded crowds at the UEFA Champions League, bowled over The Game Awards with her songs from God of War: Ragnarök, starred in the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom and opened for Heilung at a sold-out Red Rocks.
Still, Eivør’s new album stands out amidst her two-decades long discography as a bold new venture. ENN ties back to the traditional folk music that she grew up with in the Faroe Islands, while also branching out into dark electronics and cosmic orchestration.
“ENN is the most nuanced and experimental album that I’ve created to date”, Eivør says. “There is an unyielding tide of destruction at the core of the album’s journey, but there’s also hope and comfort to be found in its blue embrace”.
ENN comes out tomorrow, Friday, June 14, on Season of Mist. But you can chat with Eivør while listening to all eight glowing tracks today at 2 pm Eastern Time by joining the listening party over on her YouTube channel.
Join the listening party for ENN at THIS LOCATION.
Order the album at https://orcd.co/eivorenn
Tracklist
1. Ein Klóta (5:44)
2. Jarðartrá (4:47) [WATCH]
3. Hugsi Bert Um Teg (3:25) [WATCH]
4. Purpurhjarta (4:27)
5. ENN (7:11)
6. Lívsandin (4:35)
7. Upp Úr Øskuni (5:01) [WATCH]
8. Gaia (5:10)
Total runtime: 40:25
Eivør Pálsdóttir grew up in a village of just 400 people, tucked away among the Faroe Islands. Her music has always been shaped by the extreme contrasts of this remote landscape, where impossibly bright summers suddenly fade under the cover of dark, heavy winters. She’s now recognized by fans across the world for her thunderous Nordic hand drum and ecstatic throat singing. But it was while on a retreat to the small mountain village of Tjørnuvík, with her partner, the classical composer Tróndur Bogason, that her new album began to head in an unexpected direction.
“Tróndur and I have written a lot of music together for my albums over the years, but never anything quite like this”, Eivør says about ENN‘s stunning opener. Despite being grounded by a stark but sturdy piano, “EIN KLÓTA / A PLANET” slowly sweeps you off your feet with her operatic falsetto. “It’s a song about change, about being carried further and further away from something that was once familiar and safe”.
Throughout her career, Eivør has covered lots of stylistic ground. As a young teenager, she played with various rock and jazz bands. By the time she turned 17, she had already released her first album of folk songs and nabbed two Icelandic Music Awards. But even she was surprised to discover that her forays into electronic beatmaking were the stems for her new album.
“Slowly, I realized this wasn’t a side project”, Eivør says. “Creatively, this is where I am right now”. Her new Prophet-5 synthesizer had hardly made it out of the box before she hammered out “HUGSI BERT UM TEG / STILL JUST YOU”, a celestial swoon of dream-pop that dances like the colors of the milky way. “Usually, I spend months or sometimes years writing a song, but this one came rushing out of me”.
As displayed by the video’s synthetic light show, lead single “JARÐARTRÁ/DUST TO DUST” is one of the most beat-oriented songs on ENN. But the steady electronic pulse stems from more natural springs. In English, the title translates as “Death Lust”, a primordial desire to return to the earth. While it sounds out of this world, the heaving bass line was actually born out of an old Faroese folk melody. “When I wrote this song, I envisioned the earth in its rawest elements: oceans, volcanoes, storms, soil”, says Eivør. “We all have echoes of these elements within us, but maybe we tend to forget that we are part of nature and its endless circle of decay and growth”.
ENN does mark a stylistic leap, but Eivør hasn’t forgotten where she comes from. “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES” pays tribute to all the women who’ve supported her with what’s certainly the album’s most metal moment. “Sing to the darkness”, she growls from the pit of her throat, conjuring a devilishly anthemic guitar riff that’s bound to enchant the hordes at this year’s Hellfest.
“I imagined a coven of witches, past and present, chanting to each other across the chasms of time”, Eivør says about writing “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES”. That mental image will forever be seared into our cultural memory by the song’s positively bewitching video, which was created by a wickedly talented team of women.
Most of ENN was written in partnership with the esteemed Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs. “I greatly admire Marjun”, says Eivør. “When she sent me the poem that became the album’s title track, I got goosebumps all over”. As if her eerily echoing vocal melody wasn’t enough to send shivers down your spine, the story behind “ENN / STILL” is truly chilling. A woman wanders through her war-torn town, longing after her conscripted lover. But amidst the wreckage, her loving memories offer a glimmer of hope. After all, the song’s heavily throbbing heartbeat appeared, as if out of thin air, while Eivør was walking through the mountains near her home.
“It was one of those typical Faroese days when the light really imprints an otherworldly feeling to the landscape” she remembers. “You get this feeling of overwhelming beauty wrapped in gloominess and mystery”.
Though ENN opens by soaring off into uncharted territory, in the end, the album comes full circle. Eivør has been dwelling over its elegiac finale ever since Tróndur played it for her a few years ago. But the stuttering keyboard finally comes to rest on the soft and supple “GAIA”. The strings bend with the quiet force of gravity, as if lowering her back into the earth’s pull.
“I wanted ENN to close with a love hymn to the earth, our mother who brings us peace and solace in times of trouble”, Eivør says. “The album explores the links between humanity and nature; the primal urges of the heart, the undying desires of the human flesh and the endless struggle we choose to endure in order to achieve our goals. All of this goes on while our planet hurtles through space, setting the stage for our battlegrounds, but also our sanctuaries”.
On ENN, Eivor moves heaven and earth.
To celebrate the release of her star-turning new album, this fall, Eivør will shoot across Europe on a headlining tour with label mate Sylvaine in tow before linking up with Heilung in Australia and New Zealand. Don’t miss the chance to hear her perform “JARÐARTRÁ/DUST TO DUST”, “HUGSI BERT UM TEG / STILL JUST YOU”, “UPP ÚR ØSKUNI / RISE FROM THE ASHES” and other mesmerizing songs off ENN for the first time. Tickets are going fast!
Get tickets at eivor.com
“My band and I can’t wait to start this new chapter with you and perform later this year”, says Eivør. “These tours will bring ENN all over the world – from the United States to Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand and Australia”.
In preparation for their tour together, Eivør and Sylvaine put together a playlist of their favorite songs. Get in the mood with some of the choice cuts off Nova and the soundtracks to The Last Kingdom and God of War Ragnarök.
Eivør 2024 European Tour
October 2 – Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle [LOW TICKETS]
October 3 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivolivredenburg [LOW TICKETS]
October 4 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
October 5 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
October 7 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
October 9 – Dublin, UK @ Opium [LOW TICKETS]
October 10 – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
October 11 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy [Venue Upgrade]
October 12 – Bristol, ENG @ Thekla [SOLD OUT]
October 13 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon
October 15 – Lyon, FR @ CCO
October 16 – Lucerne, CH @ Schuur
October 17 – Vienna, AT @ Szene [Venue Upgrade]
October 18 – Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert
October 19 – Warsaw, DE @ Progresja
October 21 – Berlin, DE @ Metropol
October 22 – Aarhus, DK @ Train
October 23 – Copenhagen, DK @ Store Vega [LOW TICKETS]
October 24 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
October 25 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
October 26 – Stockholm, SE @ Kägelbanan [LOW TICKETS]
2024 Australia/ New Zealand Tour Dates Supporting Heilung
October 30 – Perth, AU @ Red Hill Auditorium
November 2 – Adelaide, AU @ AEC Theatre
November 4 – Melbourne, AU @ Palais Theatre
November 8 – Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre
November 13 – Brisbane, AU @ Riverstage
November 16 – Auckland, NZ @ Kiri Te Kanawa
Of course, fans can support Eivør by buying merchandise at any stop along her tour. But you don’t have to wait! Her new line of ENN-themed apparel is now available for order online.
Eivør calls her Nordic home in the remote Faroe Islands a landscape of extremes. Sitting in the North Atlantic Ocean just above Scotland and southeast of Iceland, with a total population of about 50,000, the climate is “full of contrasts—very dark, heavy winters and bright summers.” Growing up in a small village there, of about 400 people, it’s those contrasts that have inspired Eivør’s music throughout her career, as well as the Faroe Islands’ intense and still-vibrant connection to its own folk music traditions. “A very strong part of Faroese culture is singing together—anywhere people gather, there will be singing,” Eivør explains. “When you listen to old Faroese traditional music, it’s sung acapella and takes you back to its Renaissance roots. It’s pure, expressive, and untamed.”
Often considered to be one of the most prolific and unique Nordic artists of her generation, Eivør has released 11 studio albums to date, crossing musical genres and always pushing the bounds of the expected. Awarded with the Nordic Council Music Price in 2021, Eivør’s musical journey continues to fascinate.
As a young teenager, Eivør was immersed in the tight-knit local music scene, playing with 20-something musicians in jazz bands as well as rock bands influenced by Portishead, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Sigur Rós and similar acts.
By 16, Eivør released her debut solo collection of Faroese-sung folk-pop. One year later, she left home to study classical singing in Reykjavík, Iceland—soon winning two Icelandic Music Awards for her sophomore album. She spent the ensuing years living in Copenhagen and building a career playing folk festivals, but by 2010, Eivør was ready for a change. Her daring Larva album eschewed the folksiness of her previous work for experimentation and electronics. “I needed to free myself from boxes,” she said. It was the beginning of a new chapter that continues with her richly atmospheric new album, ENN.
The process of ENN built on Eivør’s recent immersion into production and beat-making, but began with a return to classical music. She and her partner, the classical composer Tróndur Bogason, had decamped to a tiny Faroe Islands mountain village of 50 people, called Tjørnuvík with no agenda but to “write freely” for a possible side project. “Slowly I realized: I shouldn’t think about this as a side project,” Eivør said. “This is where I am at right now creatively.” The first track they worked on there became ENN’s melancholic closer, “Gaia,” which Eivør calls “a love hymn for the Earth” that reminded her of the Renaissance music she loved in her youth. On that trip, Eivør and Tróndur also wrote ENN’s opener, “Ein Klóta,” a song about “watching your world from afar” as it changes. “I felt I was making a concept album, in a sense, about the Earth, about our home, our planet. Then it developed into both nature but also human nature—both the outer and the inner landscape, and the struggles of the heart, the struggles between the Earth and humans.”
In recent years, Eivør has composed extensively for film, television and video games(The Last Kingdom, God of War) and the cinematic structures of those scores found their way in alongside the music’s propulsive beats, omnipresent rooting in Faroese folk, and the classical flourishes of her opera training. Some of the songs feel like vistas or panoramas moving unexpectedly. “After writing the first two more spacious tracks, the idea started to grow in my head of almost a space opera,” Eivør said. “I was like, what if this journey starts out in space, and you watch the Earth? And you’re so far away from everything that you ever knew? Where am I going? What is this adventure?” The result was a synthesis of her career to date—her curiosity about beat making and noisy expressiveness, combined with the purity of classical music and cinematic atmospheres—and that sonic biography plays out beautifully on ENN’s second track “Jardartra.” It begins with a lurching beat “almost like a heartbeat,” and Eivør wrote it from the Earth’s point of view, as if “Earth is calling on us in the midst of all our human greed and destruction and beckoning us to find our way back to her blue embrace.”
Most of the lyrics, sung entirely in Faroese, were penned in collaboration with the Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs. Eivør calls the lyrics to the title track especially “hardcore.” The song is about war— “the wars that are going on in the world especially lately, but that have always been going on,” Eivør says, “and how to find a glimpse of light in this overwhelming darkness.” The guttural penultimate track, “Upp Úr Øskuni,” is a thrilling outlier mixing growling beatboxing with visceral throat singing (it’s certainly Eivør’s most metal moment). She considers “Upp Úr Øskuni” a beacon of female empowerment and solidarity.
Eivør says. “I wanted it to be wild and untamed. It’s quite witchy. When I wrote the song, I imagined a coven of witches from the past and the present all supporting each other, chanting to each other across the chasm of time.”
After independently releasing her music for many years, ENN marks Eivør’s debut for the metal label Season of Mist—and though her compositions sit outside of any one genre, she is happy to be embraced by the metal community. She identified a shared pagan sensibility in her television scores like The Last Kingdom. “I never felt I really fit into any box,” said Eivør. “I just have to do it my own way.” Recorded with her touring band in the Faroe Islands—where she now lives again, splitting time between her homeland and Denmark—Eivør called ENN “my most pleasurable and also most painful process. I felt that I was stepping into a place where I hadn’t been before, and that’s always scary because you don’t feel that you touch the ground. But it opens up your creativity and takes you to someplace new. It’s woven together all my experiences for the past 10 years, and it’s grounded me.”
Recording line-up
Eivør: Vocals, Guitars
Mattias Kapnas: Piano, Rhodes and Synths
Mikael Blak: Bass & Synths. Guitars on ‘Upp úr øskuni’
Per I Højgaard Petersen: Drums & Soundscaping
Strings performed by Lýra:
1st violin: Sigrún Harðardóttir
2nd violin: Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir
Viola: Karl James Pestka
Cello: Unnur Jónsdóttir
Choir on ‘Ein klóta’: Eivør, Tróndur, Hans Mols Mortensen, Greta Svabo Beck and Fred Ruddick
Recording studio
Studio Bloch (Faroe Islands), Hljóðritið (Iceland), Jardin Acoustique (France) and in Eivør’s portable studio in various corners of the world.
Production, engineering and recording
Produced & arranged by Eivør and Tróndur
Beat production by Eivør and Per I. Højgaard Petersen
Recorded and engineered by Theodor Kapnas at Studio Bloch (Faroe Islands)
Additional recordings and engineering by Fred Ruddick at Jardin Acoustique (France)
Strings recorded by Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson and Gestur Sveinsson at Hljóðriti (Iceland)
Mixing
Theodor Kapnas
Mastering
Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering
Creative direction
Eivør and Leif Podhajsky
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 