Music > Live Reviews

Eivør

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

02/11/18

Growing up in the seventies meant that my knowledge of Scandinavian culture was limited mainly to the the films of Ingmar Bergman and the pop songs of ABBA. Nowadays the television is awash with Scandinavian crime-noir sagas, and my album collection bulges with music from Nordic artists. Therefore, I am unsure how the name of Eivør Pálsdóttirremained underneath my radar for quite so long.

Born on the Faroe Island of Eysturoy, and now living in Copenhagen, Eivør's music transcends the worlds of classical, folk, and jazz. She sings in Faroese, in Icelandic and in English, and has released nine albums, with 2007's English language collection Human Child being simultaneously released in Faroese as Mannabarn. In 2015 the English language Bridges and the more beat-orientated Slør emerged as a dynamic pair of 'sister' albums. Two years later the English language version of Slør followed. Now the 'Into The Mist' tour makes its way around Europe, and yet still only includes three UK dates. No wonder that there are a fair few fresh faces at the Waterfront Studio tonight as the tour arrives in Norwich.
 
Support comes from AyOwA, a Danish electropop duo featuring Hannah Schneider on vocals and synths, and Nicolai Kornerup on bass, synths, and accordion. It is a fascinating combination – old school modular sounds, ethereal vocals and a mix of percussive folk and dreamy rhythms, and all the lyrics are in Danish. As Schneider acknowledges, we may not understand a word, but music still remains a universal language. Well some misunderstandings are inevitable – their single Sommer was described by one reviewer as being lustful and sexy, whereas she tells us that it is actually about losing somebody close. No such worries with their closing song. New Cross was indeed inspired by, and written about, South London. AyOwA mix an intoxicating musical cocktail and provide the perfect aperitif to this evening.

 
A Twin Peaks soundtrack serenades us during the interval, creating an atmospheric bridge whilst the stage is reset and we recharge our glasses. Eivør, together with drummer/backing vocalist and keyboard/bass player, begin with the soaring ballad from the 2015 Bridges album, On My Way To Something. Much more pop-like in its tempo is the catchy Brotin that follows. Eivør's traditional shamanic hand drum proves stubbornly unready to be played until much later in the set, until after AyOwa have returned to the stage to accompany her for True Love. Its animal skin covering  requires gentle hydration to create exactly the right amount of stretch and tension, but when we finally get to experience it during Salt it produces a most hypnotic and primal sound – similar to a bodhran, but larger and slimmer, and struck purposefully with a padded stick rather than stroked with a tipper.
Tonight's set also incorporates two new songs, sure to please dedicated fans of her music. Livsandin (meaning Spirit of Life) and Stirdur Saknur (Force in Our Hearts) are both strident in their form and mood. They set the scene perfectly as Eivør reaches for a ukelele to serenade us with the beautiful Tides. It is another reflective and moving song inspired by the sea, and once again showcases her extraordinary soprano voice. After being encouraged to join in with the deep, growling vocals for the demonically dramaticÍ Tokuni, the epic and climactic Falling Free concludes the main set.
Trøllabundin, an older song, and the one most listened to on Spotify, is saved for the encore, and gives us one final opportunity to relish those soaring vocals and that other-worldly drumming. If Eivør's renown continues in the ascendancy, as it surely will, then we will be lucky to see Eivør in such an intimate venue as the Waterfront Studio again. For me it was one of those unforgettable evenings when the hairs on the back of the neck rise and simply refuse to lie down.