For our next release we welcome back Glåsbird, an anonymous artist who debuted last year with two albums, both of which received plenty of critical acclaim. Both Grønland and Svalbarð sold out quickly, thanks in part to being picked up by Bandcamp’s ‘best Ambient’ feature and a few other trusty blogs, reviewers and radio shows. Norskfjǫrðr sees the sonic expedition continue, with the destination this time being the Norwegian fjords, again, accompanied by the landscape photography of Aldona Pivoriene. The album uses familiar hints of modern classical orchestration alongside creaks, clangs and acoustic instruments.
Norskfjǫrðr was released to subscribers of our mailing list last weekend, who had the first opportunity to grab one of these 200 CDs. They’ve been selling fast but we do still have copies available at the time of writing. You can also stream the album in full on Bandcamp as well as Spotify and of course, you can grab a digital version if you prefer, by clicking the player above or link below. To avoid missing out on future releases, you can join our mailing list HERE:
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/norskfj-r-r
press release
“Glåsbird’s anonymous and imaginary travels to far flung locations continues, with this next excursion landing at the Norwegian fjords. The first two releases dealt with the more treacherous locations of Greenland and Svalbard but in Norskfjǫrðr, the dramatic and breathtaking landscape is underpinned by a road network which connects islands, peninsulas and mountains. A human thread of highway runs through this wild and rugged setting, passing lonely wood cabins and flashes of green.
To reflect this landscape, Glåsbird imagined a journey north to the edge of the Arctic sea over several days, stopping to capture the intimate acoustics of painted wooden shacks and drawing in the landscape through tiny window panes. Whilst the previous releases use reverb-heavy strings or tape-decaying piano to reflect the cold, stark expanse of snow, Norskfjǫrðr makes use of more acoustic instruments with more emphasis on the raw sound. Various creaks and scrapes rustle underneath these melodies to reflect the sound from inside the cabin, micro-sound fragments being all the more audible due to the silent outdoors. A hint of folk is present at times in the form of bowed and plucked strings, to reflect the fauna and flora present across the West of Scandinavia. The familiar modern classical tones of piano and strings breathe a stark and chilling spine from time to time before the gently dramatic Endeligfjord marks the end of the journey, looking back out to the Barents sea.”
credits
Written and produced by Glåsbird
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Aldona Pivoriene
Packaging design by Harry Towell
