Ahead of their UK gig this Friday 2nd Dec at The Victoria, Dalston, we caught up with Linn Frøkedal from Norwegian duo Misty Coast, who also plays in the excellent The Megaphonic Thrift - they play at the same venue on Saturday 3rd.
NMR: Thanks for taking the time for a quick chat. So Misty Coast are playing in London on Friday 2nd December, and then there’s also a Megaphonic Thrift gig in London the day after. 2 London gigs in 2 days, you must be pretty excited?
Linn: "Yeah, we can’t wait! It’s been really long since we’ve played in London with both of these bands, so it’s gonna be so good to play for you beautiful Brits again."
Now we normally know Misty Coast as a recording duo, will it be just the two of you or will you have a bigger band with you for the Friday night?
"For the very first time abroad we are gonna play as a quartet, with our usual drummer Kim Åge Furuhaug (Orions Belte) and my sister, Anne Lise Frøkedal (I Was A King, Frøkedal) on guitar, keys and vocals. Don’t miss out on this one!"
Your new single ‘The Crossing’, was released on Friday, can you tell us about the track?
"This is a very special song to us, and perhaps one of the darkest we’ve made up to date. We’re taking a dive back to the beginning of Misty Coast, and it's both dreamy, weird and shaky - and you get the feeling that it might crack at any point. We’ve yet again worked with producer Matias Tellez, who instantly had an idea to make the whole track distort towards the end, emphasising the contrasts in the song."
I love the video which accompanies the song, it’s slightly dark and unsettling. What was the inspiration behind it?
"The video is a weird little DIY production. I wanted to capture the beauty in the autumn colours, mixing it with strange objects that don't belong. It shows a colder side of humanity, describing indifference and ignorance. How we can cover our eyes and ears and point fingers at each other - to the extent that we sometimes forget that the biggest problem might be ourselves."
I hear a rumour that an album will be out later next year. How’s that progressing, is it written and recorded yet?
"The rumour is true! We are in the process of recording it, but we are doing it in a slightly different way this time. Our next record will be both written and recorded over a longer period, allowing the music to find its right shape and grow over time. Half the album is already done, and the rest will be completed this winter. The album is planned to be released sometime next autumn."
Finally once you get home after the gigs Christmas will only be 3 weeks away, do you have a favourite (alternative or traditional) Norwegian Christmas song we can add to our Nordic Christmas Playlist?
"Yes! “Merrily Merrily” by Hilma Nikolaisen. This is such a beautiful Christmas song, by one of the coolest Norwegian rockers. (She actually sings on our song “92´" on our latest album)."
Thanks for your time today, we hope to see you on Friday!
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