Skuggsjá Announce A Piece for Mind and Mirror Album Details and Stream New Track
Maybe if I wasn’t there to see Skuggsjá unfold on stage at Roadburn last year as the apex of the most cohesive curated day I’ve ever witnessed at that fest, I wouldn’t be quite so excited for the prospect of a studio outing from the Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik collaboration. Still, hearing the newly posted “Vitkispá,” it’s hard not to think even those who didn’t make that show will be swept up in the atmospherics and vision those two and their host of included guests foster across the span of A Piece for Mind and Mirror, which is the title they’ve given to what I’ll aspirationally call their first album.
The record is due out March 11 on Season of Mist, and if you can, before you listen to the track below, take a second, close your eyes, take a couple deep breaths in and out and try to clear your head. Not necessary, maybe, to dig in, but it certainly won’t hurt. Either way you go, here’s words and more from the PR wire:
SKUGGSJÁ unveil new album details, stream new track
Norway’s SKUGGSJÁ, the new band led by Ivar Bjørnson (ENSLAVED) and Einar Selvik (WARDRUNA), revealed new details of their debut album. The album, titled ‘A Piece for Mind & Mirror’ will be released by Season of Mist worldwide on March 11. Pre-orders for the album are available across several CD and LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.
SKUGGSJÁ are streaming the first new track off ‘A Piece for Mind & Mirror’. The track, titled “Vitkispá”, is streaming now.
Regarding the track Ivar Bjørnson comments on behalf of the band: “It was not easy to pick one song to reveal as we are extremely proud of them all. We chose ‘Vitkispá’, because this song represents the sound, the atmosphere, and energy on the entire album very well. It flows and ebbs, with Einar’s signature vocals and my wall-to-wall guitars. ‘Vitkispá’ is sung in archaic Norse tongue, and deals with the cyclical nature of Norse mythology and existence; ebbing and flowing like nature and life itself. Check it out, you will not be disappointed!”
The album artwork and track list for ‘A Piece for Mind & Mirror’ can be found below:
Track List:
1. Ull Kjem
2. Skuggsjá
3. Makta Og Vanæra (I All Tid)
4. Tore Hund
5. Rop Frå Røynda – Mælt Frå Minne
6. Skuggeslåtten
7. Kvervandi
8. Vitkispá
9. Bøn Om Ending – Bøn Om Byrjing
10. Ull Gjekk
SKUGGSJÁ was originally conceived as a commissioned musical work written by Bjørnson and Selvik. The arrangement was performed by ENSLAVED and WARDRUNA in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution at the 2014 edition of Norway’s Eidsivablot festival.
The growing desire to present SKUGGSJÁ to a broader audience led Bjørnson and Selvik to headline Roadburn Festival 2015 and record a full album. Details regarding this debut release will be available soon.
Featuring a variety of Norway and Scandinavia’s oldest instruments, as well as poetry in Norse and Norwegian, SKUGGSJÁ tells the history of Norway and its people. SKUGGSJÁ is truly a fusion of Norway’s past and present both lyrically and musically.
SKUGGSJÁ’s official line-up is:
Ivar Bjørnson (ENSLAVED): vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
Einar Selvik (WARDRUNA): vocals, taglharpa, Kravik-lyre, goat-horn, birch-bark lure, bone-flute, percussion, electronics
The album also features contributions from the following musicians:
Grutle Kjellson (ENSLAVED): vocals
Lindy-Fay Hella (WARDRUNA): vocals
Eilif Gundersen: birch bark lure
Olav L. Mjelva: Harding fiddle
Cato Bekkevold (ENSLAVED): drums
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