#indiefolk

NMR Indie Playlist

'Adam Evald' - 'The White Ocean' (from album 'White Night Blackout')

Andy Wors

Feb 28, 2020
2 min

'Adam Evald' - 'The White Ocean' (from album 'White Night Blackout')

We still have so much new stuff to cover from last Friday, because after the new year 'lull' we seem to be hitting peak release season, and this includes Swedish chamber pop musician Adam Evald, whom we wrote about last year, and who has now released his album 'White Night Blackout', and alongside it a single entitled 'The White Ocean'. The whole album is definitely worth listening to, because there's a lovely elegance about Evald's songwriting and arrangements. Previously I

Introducing... Aleksander Waaktaar - 'All Wrong'

Andy Wors

Feb 27, 2020
2 min

Introducing... Aleksander Waaktaar - 'All Wrong'

I know I keep saying stuff like this, but it's just so lovely to be able to get up early in the UK and start the day by writing about lovely new music - it's simply a real privilege. Norwegian composer and now songwriter Aleksander Waaktaar is our next introduction, and whilst it's unlikely that many of our UK / US readers will have heard about him, he's developed a reputation with his compositions and arrangements through his work with the Oslo Philharmonic, the Norwegian Ra

Andy Wors

Feb 20, 2020
2 min

'Signe' - 'Halfway' (EP)

We've always made an extra effort to cover Nordic artists in the UK, and whilst 'Signe' might be Norwegian born, she's been based in beautiful Bath for sometime, which has always had a good reputation for arts and concerts. Her debut EP may have taken a while to finally see the light of day, but she's built an impressive reputation performing live, supporting the likes of Beth Rowley and performing at the Bath Festival and other local venues. Now that 'Halfway' has been rel

Alice Boman - 'Dream On' (album) and UK / US tour dates

Andy Wors

Feb 19, 2020
2 min

Alice Boman - 'Dream On' (album) and UK / US tour dates

One album we haven't had chance to cover in detail is the debut album release from Swedish songwriter Alice Boman, which was released a few weeks back. It seems strange that 'Dream On' is her debut album given she has been writing and performing for so long now - her debut EP 'Skisser' ('Sketches') was released back in 2013, originally meant as 'bedroom demos' but then released in their original form when a record label heard and liked them, and since then she has establishe

'Gypsy Chicken' - '13 Billion Years' (album)

Andy Wors

Feb 17, 2020
3 min

'Gypsy Chicken' - '13 Billion Years' (album)

After featuring 'Martin Månsson Sjöstrand Trio' last week, I was conscious that we do sometimes head off almost too frequently in the direction of the unusual and offbeat, but we do love bands that do things that are slightly different to the norm, and 'Gypsy Chicken' write infectiously likeable, quirky alternative folk that is pretty difficult to define, but is both entertaining and charming in equal quantities. Behind 'Gypsy Chicken' are 2 musicians, both Norwegian based, b

Introducing… Talitha Ferri - 'Home' (single)

Andy Wors

Feb 12, 2020
2 min

Introducing… Talitha Ferri - 'Home' (single)

We love to mix up the styles of music we feature, and after the curious strains of Martin Månsson Sjöstrand Trio, we're delighted to introduce you to 'Talitha Ferri', an artist who only released her debut single last week - although the fact that it was premiered in the wonderful Goldflake Piant (Issue 5 coming out soon!) is a pretty good indicator of the quality of the release. 'Talitha Ferri' is a Danish / American songwriter based in Copenhagen, and over the course of the

Ida Wenøe - 'Värmeland' (Single) + UK Tour!

Andy Wors

Feb 3, 2020
2 min

Ida Wenøe - 'Värmeland' (Single) + UK Tour!

We don't normally write about single releases that we've already covered as part of an album review, but we're more than happy to make an exception for Ida Wenøe, Her album 'The Things We Don't Know Yet' was one of our favourite releases from 2019, and it's an album I'll never let go - reaching for it in particular when I'm alone and want something to consume the house completely. And her release of 'Värmeland' links in nicely with a UK tour too, starting in less than 4 week

Andy Wors

Jan 30, 2020
1 min

Siv Jakobsen - 'Fear the Fear' (single)

We try to mix things up as much as possible by featuring artists both new and old to Nordic Music Review, and we're particularly delighted to write once again about Siv Jakobsen, who's music I remember so distinctly listening to on our launch night way back in 2014. Since then we've followed her progress carefully, from the release of her EP 'The Lingering' to her debut album, as well as UK tour dates and her new single 'Fear the Fear' is the 1st glimpse of a new album, which

'Ari' (featuring 'Toggi') - Anthem (single)

Andy Wors

Jan 29, 2020
1 min

'Ari' (featuring 'Toggi') - Anthem (single)

There's just time today for a mention of a track by one of our favourite 'Indie' musicians, 'Ari' from Iceland, whom we've featured a couple of times previously, most recently when he released his album 'Radikoj', the follow up to the equally enjoyable 'Frae'. In his most recent release, he's teamed up with fellow Icelandic musician 'Toggi' in a single entitled 'Anthem', which was written by 'Ari and sung by 'Toggi. And its a lovely track, with Toggi sounding a tiny bit 'John

'Lilla Parasit' - 'Feather Soul' (single)

Andy Wors

Dec 3, 2019
2 min

'Lilla Parasit' - 'Feather Soul' (single)

Of course no-one should be so foolish to rely on Nordic Music Review for their daily / weekly dose of New Music, and one of the music websites we most frequently recommend is the ever excellent 'For The Rabbits'. Regular readers of that 'blog' will hopefully have spotted the 'Lilla Parasit' premiere they had a week or so ago, but if you didn't it's called 'Feather Soul', and it's the 2nd release from a band, which debuted in October with their track 'Gaslights'. 'Lilla Parasi

Andy Wors

Oct 30, 2019
1 min

'Benedikt' - 'Pope Francis' (single)

We wrote about 'Benedikt' earlier this year when they released their track 'Paper Mache', and we were going to write about their debut album 'Communal Work', but things got a bit complicated at the end of May. Most bands release albums and then disappear into hibernation for a couple of years whilst they recover and start the writing process again, but not 'Benedikt'. The group of 9 indie folk musicians that loosely comprise the band are clearly all prolific writers and arran

Andy Wors

Oct 24, 2019
2 min

Heikki Rasilo - 'Sea Songs' (EP)

Well we've covered some slightly over enthusiastic anime prog rock ('Moron Police'), pretty perfect indie pop ('The Sideways') and some interesting and unusual electronica ('raudur'), so today we will feature an artist with a more traditional approach to songwriting. Heikki Rasilo is from Finland and we wrote about him back in early 2018 after coming across his EP from the previous year 'Before I'm Covered', which we liked for both the music and the artwork, and it's great t

Andy Wors

Sep 2, 2019
3 min

'Marteinn Sindri' - 'Atlas' (album)

We wrote about Icelandic songwriter 'Marteinn Sindri' when he released his debut single back in 2017, after spotting him perform at Sofar Sounds - in a rare moment of being 'on the ball'. So we're delighted to re-start our writing with a few words about his beautiful debut album 'Atlas', which was released back in May, and which has just totally captured our hearts. At the time we thought he had the ability to write pretty special music, but I never imagined that 2 years late

Introducing 'Peer Nic' - with single 'Forever Lost'

Andy Wors

Sep 2, 2019
1 min

Introducing 'Peer Nic' - with single 'Forever Lost'

Going through 1600 emails is an arduous task, but I knew I'd drop upon some lovely gems along the way, and Norwegian artist 'Peer Nic' released a lovely single back in May, which I'm delighted to cover, albeit briefly and belatedly. So I guess I'd describe him as a 'traditional' singer songwriter, and the single 'Forever Lost' released a few months backs opens up very much in that style, but there is a sophistication and complexity in the instrumental arrangements courtesy of

'I See Rivers' - 'Helios' (single) - and Kickstarter album appeal!

Andy Wors

Jul 1, 2019
2 min

'I See Rivers' - 'Helios' (single) - and Kickstarter album appeal!

After a 'Junus Horribilis' I just want to write about some of my favourite bands, so expect some 'Moron Police', 'The School Book Depository' and maybe even '1900' soon, but way out top of the list to feature is 'I See Rivers', because they're just continuing to make such a great impression wherever they go, and they've released a brand new single entitled 'Helios' with some plans for an album in 2020 too. I'm kind of hoping that our frequent coverage of the band means they d

Sunday Non Nordic Indie: 'Psychotic Villager' - 'All The Money That I Need' (single)

Andy Wors

Jun 23, 2019
1 min

Sunday Non Nordic Indie: 'Psychotic Villager' - 'All The Money That I Need' (single)

So here's something different to brighten up your Sunday, and it's a track from the Indonesian Indie Folk band 'Psychotic Villager' which popped up in our Inbox a few weeks ago. There are 4 people in the band, but they also rely on instruments such as flute and violin, and 'All The Money That I Need' is their second song, which follows on from their release 'Winter Hymn' in 2017. It's a curious and interesting track, which takes influences from across many centuries of music

'Vetle Forsell' - 'Strange Clouds' (single)

Andy Wors

May 7, 2019
1 min

'Vetle Forsell' - 'Strange Clouds' (single)

We wrote about Norwegian musician 'Vetle Forsell' last November when debuting with the single 'In Waiting', a fascinating and moving song which described sitting waiting in Australia for his father to arrive for support after a mental breakdown. Now Vetle is back with a new song entitled 'Strange Clouds', and it's another quietly contemplative and thoughtful song from the Stavenger born songwriter who has this ability to quite naturally deal with challenging issues through h

'Einar Stray Orchestra' - 'Hot Salted Wind' (single)

Andy Wors

Apr 23, 2019
1 min

'Einar Stray Orchestra' - 'Hot Salted Wind' (single)

We're really looking forward to getting stuck into an array of good album releases (Ida Wenøe, Melby, maybe Elvar and ViVii also if we have chance), but first we're delighted to introduce a brand new single from one of our favourite bands. 'Einar Stray Orchestra' should be familiar to regular Nordic Music Review readers having been featured a fair few times, with their 3 albums 'Dear Bigotry, 'Politricks' and 'Chiaroscuro' all being real favourites, with simply hundreds of li

Andy Wors

Apr 17, 2019
2 min

'Benedikt' - new single 'Paper Mache'

We'll have an EP review from Icelandic / Russian duo 'Pale Moon' in a while but we wanted to start the day with another introduction to a band we haven't featured before. 'Benedikt' have been on our radar for a while, but it was actually their inclusion on the line-up for our favourite small music festival 'Indiefjord' which gave us the nudge to make sure we wrote about them as soon as we had the chance. So 'Benedikt' started as the solo project of musician Hans Olav Settems

Andy Wors

Mar 27, 2019
1 min

'Catself' - 'A New Green' (single)

We've covered a particularly unusual release today with Danish musician M. Rexen and his weighty long titled album, so here's a lovely sweet and quirky song to balance up our recommendations. We've featured Finnish songwriter 'Catself' previously, she writes flighty nature inspired alternative folk, with the most honest and endearing lyrics and we're delighted she has a new song out. So it's entitled 'A New Green' and it's a completely charming song, with the cutest of melodi