Fastlandet - Torun Eriksen
With the new album, Fastlandet, Torun Eriksen breaks new ground and does several things for the first time: The lyrics are Norwegian; it is a trio format; it has an electroacoustic soundscape; and the music is improvised and thoroughly composed simultaneously, layer upon layer.
Long-time musical partner and bassist Kjetil Dalland is alternating anchor and freediver with his distinctive, exploratory playing. Italian Alessandra Bossa on grand piano and live electronics expands the palette sonically and in time and space - one moment lingering, the next a swirling virtuoso. Guest Atle Nymo expands to a quartet and gives the album a fourth dimension with warm and shiny clarinets.
Eriksen stands for voice, lyrics, music, and production and shows the way over and through the album terrain — The songs on the album are stories about losing. But they are also about taking care of what you have while you have it: life, each other, the moment. Things that are more important than anything, and yet so incredibly difficult for us. Fastlandet is an attempt to create a place to be here and now. The album is her seventh solo release on Jazzland Recordings.