ERLAND DAHLEN

When you’ve played on more than 300 albums, with a variety of artists including Norwegian Jazz legends such as NILS PETTER MOLVÆR, EIVIND AARSET, STIAN WESTERHUS and GEIR SUNDSTØL, together with bands and artists such as MADRUGADA, KAADA, JOHN PAUL JONES, ANE BRUN, ANNELI DRECKER, MARIT LARSEN and XPLODING PLASTIX, it’s inevitable that the desire to create and perform something of your own will emerge sooner or later.

And indeed, so it was for legendary drummer ERLAND DAHLEN, who has joined with Is it Jazz? Records to release “Racoons”, his fifth studio album, demonstrating that not only is he a versatile artist who can adapt his skills to the needs of other musicians, but that he is also a solo artist renowned for his creative ideas. Ideas that make use of his ability to play a multitude of percussive instruments to create a massive, intricately layered sound, that is unmistakably his own.

And today, ahead of it’s 27 October release, Is it Jazz? Records brings us a second track from “Racoons” to pique our interest in the album. Titled “Auto”, the track can be downloaded or streamed from a variety of sources at THIS LOCATION.

As Dahlen explains, “Auto” had unusual origins:

I based “Auto” on the drone from a Dulcimer Lute, which I combined with drums/percussion, synth, voices and electronics. In the intro you can hear an old tape recording of the Folk singer Knut Slettetveit, which my father recorded in the late 80’s. The title itself is an homage to the Kraut Rock era .

When he started recording his own music, Dahlen’s original idea had been to release just one solo album, this being 2012’s “Rolling Bomber”. However, things didn’t go quite to plan, and his solo work became more significant to him, something for which his fans are grateful.

For his latest album, Dahlen both made, and used, a lot of unique instruments, as he explains:

On “Racoons” I play a lot of custom-made instruments. Lars Hurlen has built different log drums for the album, and Harald Hougaard has built a custom-made zither bass. I also use custom-made chromatic blossom bells, and different metal items, such as huge serving plates.

“Racoons” was recorded with Bjarte Stensli in March 2023 at the Rainbow Studio in Oslo, with additional recording and mix by Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard W. Hagen from Xploding Plastix.

With cover art by Tom Korsvold, tracklisting on “Racoons” is as follows:

Sun Pt. 1
Stride
Auto
Slow
Mud
Foggy
Sun Pt. 2

“Racoons” will be available in CD, Digital and LP formats, and can now be pre-ordered from:

Bandcamp: https://erlanddahlen.bandcamp.com/album/racoons
Webshop: https://isitjazzrecords.no/shop/

Dahlen has received numerous industry awards for the albums on which he has appeared, including 13 Spelleman Awards, having been nominated an extraordinary total of 38 times. He can also be found behind the drumkit of a number of Norwegian and International film scores.

More information about ERLAND DAHLEN can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063804630105 and https://www.facebook.com/erland.dahlen
Or on the Artist Page at https://isitjazzrecords.no/artists/erland-dahlen/

Having played on more than 300 albums with a wide range of artists from different genres, and with four solo albums to his name, drummer ERLAND DAHLEN is set to release his fifth studio album “Racoons” on Is It Jazz? Records on the 27th October.

Obviously, being so much in demand on such a wide variety of collaborations and sessions, it is clear that Dahlen is an artist with considerable skills, who is sensitive to the requirements of other musicians, and who is well able to adapt those skills to whatever the music requires. However, he is also a renowned solo artist with his own creative ideas, and who, by using a multitude of percussive instruments, is able to create a massive, intricately layered sound, that is all his own.

Over the years, Dahlen had accumulated so many musical ideas that didn’t fit in with any other projects, and he grew to realise that he needed a project that would allow him to record and play live for himself.

Originally the plan had been to release just one solo album, 2012’s “Rolling Bomber”. However, since then this solo work has grown in importance for Dahlen, so much so, in fact, that for “Racoons” he actually made and used a lot of unique instruments, as he explains:

I play a lot of custom-made instruments here. Lars Hurlen has built different log drums for the album, and Harald Hougaard has built a custom-made zither bass. I also use custom-made chromatic blossom bells, and different metal items, such as huge serving plates.

Those eager to find out the kind of sound that these create ahead of the full-album release, can do so with the track “Foggy”, which can be streamed or downloaded from a variety of services at THIS LOCATION.

Dahlen had this to say about the track:

“Foggy” starts off with a drum groove that moves across a drum machine beat. The idea was to let the groove evolve and gradually add more elements in a repetitive drone-like landscape.

“Racoons” was recorded with Bjarte Stensli in March 2023 at the Rainbow Studio in Oslo, with additional recording and mix by Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard W. Hagen from Xploding Plastix.

With cover art by Tom Korsvold, tracklisting on “Racoons” is as follows:

Sun Pt. 1
Stride
Auto
Slow
Mud
Foggy
Sun Pt. 2

“Racoons” will be available in CD, Digital and LP formats, and can now be pre-ordered from:

Bandcamp: https://erlanddahlen.bandcamp.com/album/racoons
Webshop: https://isitjazzrecords.no/shop/

Dahlen has received numerous industry awards for the albums on which he has appeared, including 13 Spelleman Awards, having been nominated an extraordinary total of 38 times. He can also be found behind the drumkit of a number of Norwegian and International film scores.

Some of the artists with whom he has played, either live or in the studio, include Norwegian Jazz legends such as NILS PETTER MOLVÆR, EIVIND AARSET, STIAN WESTERHUS and GEIR SUNDSTØL, together with bands and artists such as MADRUGADA, KAADA, JOHN PAUL JONES, ANE BRUN, ANNELI DRECKER, MARIT LARSEN and XPLODING PLASTIX, along with a host of others!

More information about ERLAND DAHLEN can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063804630105 and https://www.facebook.com/erland.dahlen or on the Artist Page at https://isitjazzrecords.no/artists/erland-dahlen/