Sámi–Norwegian artist Mari Boine and internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft present their brand new single “Elle”. The song is taken from the duo’s upcoming full-length Amame, which will be released by By Norse Music on September 29, 2023.
The track “Elle” is premiering now in the form of a music video on the By Norse Youtube Channel here. The single is available on all digital streaming platforms here.
Pre-orders for Amame (translated: So We Don’t) are available for pre-ordering in the By Norse store here. Pre-save the album here.
Mari Boine comments: “The original theme song to the movie “The Kautokeino Rebellion” by Nils Gaup is named for its hero: the young Ellen Aslaksdatter Skum. Ellen endured 18 years in prison away from her little son, for her leading participation in the 1852 rebellion against the coloniser’s exploitation of the Sami community and the devastating consequences of the introduction of alcohol in our homeland (OR: the destructive consequences the introduction of alcohol had on our people). Though a very much appreciated song by myself and my audience, this is my first studio recording of Elle. I love this version created by Bugge and me, and I hope it will strike a chord with many of you, too.”
Mari Boine was signed to By Norse earlier this year. By Norse is a platform to support Norse and Norse-related Art, Music, literature, film and culture. It was founded by Einar Selvik (Wardruna, Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik), Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved, BardSpec, Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik) and Simon Füllemann (AISAmusic).
Tracklist:
1. Amame jávkat (So We Don’t Fade) 05:03
2. Alit alihastá aliha (Blue Shines the Blue) (03:52)
3. Don oidnet mu sielu (You Saw My Soul) (04:38)
4. Elle (04:40)
5. Čiŋadan gahpiriin (My Head Holds High the Horned Hat) 03:37
6. Eadnán bákti (To Woman) 04:58
7.If Tomorrow’s Mine 05:23
8. Mihá (I Stand Tall) 05:23
9. Jearrat biekkas (To Ask the Wind) 06:06
10. Leat go don dies (Will You Be There) 03:50
11. Mu oappá niegus (In My Sister’s Dream) 08:35
Mari Boine will be playing a selected number of shows with Bugge Wesseltoft. Find all confirmed shows listed below.
Mari Boine & Bugge Wesseltoft
30/10 – Oslo World Music Festival – Oslo Konserthus, Oslo
31/10 – October: Skien World, Ibsenhuset, Skien
02/11 – Bergen Internasjonale Musikkfestival, Grieghallen, Bergen
04/11 – Tromsø World Festival, Tromsø Kulturhus, Tromsø
05/11 – Molde Mundo, Bjørnsonhuset, Molde
Mari Boine
19/08 – Midgardsblot Festival, Borre, Norway
Biography
Iconic Sámi–Norwegian folk artist Mari Boine is known as a genre-bending trailblazer with a taste for jazz, folk, rock, and world. Returning with her new album Amame after five years, she has again found something completely different inside her than anything heard before.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Mari Boine lived up north, in Tromsø, and was preparing a new album with producer Svein Schultz. But musicians were hit hard by the pandemic. Jobs disappeared overnight and a gathering of musicians in the studio was not possible. Svein Schultz was lucky, he got a job as headmaster at the Cultural School in Hamarøy, while Mari Boine was left alone, listening to piano music. She loves piano music.
From there, it didn’t take her long to contact Bugge Wesseltoft, whom she knew well after he produced her album Gávcci Jahkejuogu – Eight seasons in 2002. She would like to collaborate with him again, but not with the electronica guru Bugge – this time with the pianist.
Over months, ideas flied back and forth, before they eventually were able to meet in Bugge’s room and record songs, with the exception of two songs that Mari herself recorded at home in Tromsø, while she looked out the window at the strait and a pandemic-closed country. Her first footprint as a sound technician, but hardly the last!
Amame is a different and more mature Mari Boine, accompanied by Bugge’s tender and responsive piano playing. Songs with seriousness and depth, sung by a Mari Boine who has found peace in life, but who nevertheless tells stories about love, human vulnerability, injustice, and struggle, but also about pride and dignity. For the first time, she records “Elle” on her own studio album, the iconic theme song from the film “The Kautokeino Rebellion”, now quietly accompanied by Bugge’s piano.
“Mihá ” is a song she knew she had to sing in Sami one day, the first time she heard it. This is the song for Liv in the book “The dark secret in Tysfjord”, written by Anne-Britt Harsem. This is the song for her, whose real name is Mona Marita, and it was written in Norwegian by Stian Soli, and here translated into Sami by Rawdma C. Eira and Mari herself. She says it is “for everyone who has managed to stand up and create a dignified life for themselves, despite betrayal and painful experiences of abuse”.
Mari sings for others, she herself assumes the role of an elderly person and imparts wisdom to the listener. The love song “Alit Alihastá Aliha” is a text by Karen Anne Buljo about two artists with great love for each other, for each other’s art. Anyone who listens to the interaction between Mari Boine and Bugge Wesseltoft does not even need to understand the lyrics.
The last song on the album, “Mu Oappá Niegus ” is the only song on the album that gives us Mari in band format and a small nod from one producer to another, as an homage to Svein Schultz from Bugge Wesseltoft. Mari Boine never stands still, and you never know what awaits, but perhaps there is a little hint here. A greeting to the principal at the Cultural School in Hamarøy.
Text by Arne Berg
