Ævestaden offers long chorales, contemporary texts, pop songs and a soundscape that is not afraid of either the clear, dirty, electric or traditional. On September 22, the band will release their second full-length album 'The sun was better there' on the record label Supertraditional (Sara Parkman and others). The Swedish-Norwegian trio debuted with the album 'Ingen Mere Gråter' (2021). For this album they won the Folkarms Award the same year. With the traditional and the modern linked together in a seamless way, the group quickly gained a place on the folk music scene - and over time the attention surrounding them has grown rapidly. Since the debut album, the trio has also released the collaborative EP 'Jag Är Sen Igen' with the indie band Benedikt in 2022. Ævestaden has played at, among others, By:Larm, Førdefestivalen, Bingsjöstämman, VillVillVest, Festspillene in Bergen and at Midgardsblot. In addition to Norway and Sweden, they have also played in Poland, France and Scotland and will also play in England, Germany and Denmark in 2023.
- "Little mirror on the wall there, what's the hottest thing in Norway here? The answer is, strangely enough you might say, among other things Norwegian traditional music in a modern guise." - The daily newspaper
Their varied instrument combinations, with lyres, violin, kantele, vocals, harmonica and electronics, open up a unique soundscape when timeless harmonies, and layers of minimalist motifs, create an open and atmospheric world.
- "A barren, stripped-down sound world that moves towards an almost reduced simplicity, bordering on a naivety with retakes and repetitions." – Magnus Östnäs (Lira Musikmagasin)
The songs are about the conscious and the subconscious - the everyday and the sacred - about life and death. Here the big emotions are depicted; everything from an intense prayer to enter the kingdom of God to a wish that someone, sometime, will think of you in the evening.
-"Not either pop or jazz. Just modern, good and exciting folk music.” – Arild Rønsen (PULS)
Ævestaden is:
Kenneth Lien – kraviklyra, mouthy, vocals
Levina Storåkern – cow horn, violin, kantele, vocals, electronics
Eir Vatn Strøm – vocals, kraviklyra, electronics