Eivør Releases New Album ‘Segl’
“Let It Come” Feat. On NPR ‘New Music Friday’ Playlist
New Music from Eivør
About the Artist
Eivør is an artist perfectly attuned to the savage vicissitudes of nature. Born & raised in Syðrugøta, a tiny community of just over 400 people on one of the northerly Faroe Islands, Eivør grew up surrounded by the windswept landscape of the North Atlantic, a backdrop that has deeply influenced the elemental electronica she creates. Segl – Eivør’s ninth album, since releasing her debut at just 17 – builds on these motifs, exploring the journeys we undertake, both metaphorically and physically. The title – meaning “sail” in Faroese – alludes to our desire for growth and direction, and the role of fate. “You have to hoist your own sail,” notes Eivør; “but you cannot control the wind.”
Eivør immersed herself in music from 13, fronting a trip-hop band after discovering seminal albums by Massive Attack and Portishead. Gigs soon followed, held afloat in rowing boats, in the pitch-black darkness of a huge cave on the island of Hestur. At 16 she quit school, moving alone to Reykjavik to release her debut album and pursue classical singing training. Eivør has since won the Icelandic Music Prize, twice – the first non-Icelandic artist to do so.
Such itinerant tendencies have bled into her music, Segl no exception. “My creative process can be very chaotic and abstract, so I need to find the space to dive deeper into it and sculpt it,” she says. “After sitting on songs for a year or more, I’d go in and edit the melody or the lyrics. Sometimes the production too. The whole album is very much about change, so it’s quite apt.”
Critical Acclaim
“This is an album full of sweeping epics” – Metro
“A beautiful moving landscape you need to lose yourself in” – Stylist
About The Album
Eivør’s working partnership with Golden Globe nominee Dan Heath brings Segl to a spine-tingling conclusion on “Gullspunnin” – with lyrics written by Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjælnes and a title meaning “cocooned in gold,” it transmits the essence of the islands – as Eivør puts it; “The magic play of light, fog, and astonishing contrasts that are unique to The Faroes”. Other collaborations across Segl see Ásgeir accompany on vocals, while Einar Selvik of Wardruna, adds sonorous depth to “Stirdur Saknur.” “I wanted to be very playful,” says Eivør; “Visiting other people’s creative world, and inviting them into mine. Something magical happens when two different worlds meet, it expands the space. And it’s full of contrast; that’s quite interesting to me.”