My thoughts and vision behind choices made.
During the production of Songleikr’s Fuglefolk album, I finally got to spend some creative time with both Maria Franz and Ingrid Aune Falch. Albeit only as a mixing & mastering consultant, and lending a helping hand in making the gorgeous artwork they’d been creating all by themselves. I was drawn by the puristic way they approach their folk music for this second album, which consists of traditional as well as original songs. Songleikr was doing away with the slick production style.
I will indulge in a little bit of a tangent about this: To me the strife for sounding perfect, strong, epic or anything along those lines, often feels like a veil behind which musicians hide the raw humanness and original intention for making their art. Perhaps they do this in an attempt to protect shadowy places where they feel fear, or maybe the motives are geared towards commercial success. By doing so the musician misses out on sharing something very important with their audience. Production and bombastic sounds undo or diminish the power of the vulnerability in which so much magic lies… in my humble opinion. An audience needs to see their worst fears reflected… an idol that is also human. Having said that: I won’t pretend I’m innocent!
Back to Songleikr: to my delight Ingrid asked me to join as a producer on a new song she was working on: “it’s a collaboration with this Icelandic choir”, she said. This turned out to be Árstíðir. Musicians I’ve admired from the first time I heard their work and have had the pleasure to meet - but not yet work with. To be asked to add my sound as a producer, still feels like a gift!
Árstíðir had already done an amazing job arranging the song Ingrid wrote. Through harmonies, piano, guitar and the delicious way they sing in harmony, they had skilfully added what makes them sound the way they do. Now it was my turn to further shape the sonic world for the recorded version this song.
Artwork by Marta “Margo” Kosowska Elemantal Vision Studio
As Omen om Uår is about an omen, a sign of a certain doom nearing, I wanted to reflect this in the sound. I decided to do this by making it more and more urging, pressing - and add some mysticism to it. I love a cinematic type sonic universe, and a depth of layers that are close and others that are far away. This leaves something new to discover every time you listen.
As this is folk music, and honouring the path Songleikr are on, I didn’t want to use digital instruments. Instead I used the sounds from the acoustic instruments as the sources for textures you can’t quite place. For example I created a windy whisper from the violin, that sometimes blows through parts of the song. I didn’t use the computer for this, but instead turned to my various analogue effect pedals. Physical boxes with knobs that sometimes have effects you cannot predict. There’s much more of those effects going on besides the violin, listen closely and you’ll find them, leading one part into the next, or making the piano sound just slightly otherworldly and haunting.
An exception, although only partly, is the addition of my vintage Juno-60 synthesizer, that provides analogue warm lows that you might not hear consciously, but offer the feeling of pressure whenever they’re there.
Between the guitars and Ragnar’s piano, as beautiful ast hey are, I was missing a more constant and grounding sound. Somewhere in the process my accordion became part of the song. I like the darkness one can conjure with an accordion, and it seemed fitting here. Once the accordion was playing, it couldn’t leave the sound pallette anymore, and so it became a integral part of the sound world.
Having seven singers in the mix proved a little challenging, but with some helpful guidance from Ragnar we decided on something he calls “non-hierarchical vocal harmonies”. However, Ingrid’s vocal is always clear, for she’s telling us the omen and you don’t want to miss any of that!
I think we succeeded in creating a mystical organic sound world that is it’s own work of art - and adds power to the story of the lyrics. I’m very proud of all the beauty each musician added with their parts and input. Proud of Ingrid for writing this beautiful music inspired by what she can read in the surface of a stone (!!!).
Please enjoy the song and maybe toss us some money, in return for what it gives you, via Bandcamp.
December 16th, Árstíðir are playing the gorgeous Herz concerthall in Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht. Ingrid and me will be joining them on stage to play Omen om Uar live - maybe for the only time ever!
Come see it if you can!
