The Fjords reveal new single 'Lost' - premiere

Something for the weekend

The Fjords (Geir Mogen)

Norway-based band The Fjords have just revealed their brand new single 'Lost', a sparkling electro-pop tune with a dark theme, which you can hear first via The Independent.

What initially began as frontman Petter Vagån’s solo dissertation at Trondheim Jazz Conservatory, grew to include Vegard Lien Bjerkan (synth, vocals), Bardur Reinert Poulsen (bass, synth, vocals) and Kim Christer Hylland (drums, electronics, vocals).

Vagån says 'Lost' is about the "long and hazardous way out of an abusive relationship. It’s about finding your way out of a fantasy world that's been pulled over your eyes”.

"I got to witness how a person can manipulate and grind down another persons sense of reality and self worth,” he says.

“A friend of mine found herself in an emotionally abusive relationship that started to take a turn towards physical abuse. It took some time for her to regain her own perspective and see the world untainted by his sickened narrative, a slow descent from a dark place. Now she's back, and free.

Check out the track below:

What are you listening to at the moment?

Right now I'm in kind of an expansive mode, so I'm listening to a lot of music. I tend to be on or off in that regard. Lately I've listened to Espen Reinertsens Spioneringsvise (spy song) - he's got a lovely mix of avant garde and electronic pop going on, and also have a way of writing lyrics that are both naive and profound at the same time. Like an alien view on earthly things. Spioneringsvise is the single to his forthcoming album. The lyrics are Norwegian though, but the music speaks for itself nonetheless.

I'll also wanna give a shoutout to Skrap who just released a single called Marianna. Skrap are Anja Lauvdal and Heida Mobeck from Broen. I managed to beg my way onto that track with some guitars at the end there, but it sounded awesome before I got involved anyways. It's a shimmering poptune about Anja and Heida's friend Marianna. Good vibes all the way! If you like harder stuff you should definitely check out Kim's band Dreamarcher, and the band 22 from Trondheim.

Other than that I love the new songs that were just released by LCD Soundsystem (great lyrics), Grizzly Bear and The National. Mitski's album Puberty 2 is also great. The best guitar solo (and sparse but epic arrangement) of the 2010's is still Blake Mills' “If I'm Unworthy”, and last but not least, eternal shoutouts to the Goldberg Variations by Bach as played by Glen Gould. I like the '81 version the best.

What are your plans for 2017?

For The Fjords, we're finishing our album. We did some Norway gigs in early May and spent a week at Ocean Sound Recordings in Giske, which is an incredibly nice studio situated at a sandy beach outside Ålesund, Norway. Google it for epic pics.

Both the gigs and the recordings felt great, and we'll be continuing our work with UK producer Neil Comber until the album is finished. That's basically the plan in broad terms. Other than that I'm playing a couple of solo gigs at the Starmus Festival in Trondheim, where Stephen Hawking, Brian Eno, Brian Cox and some astronauts and other people with huge intellects and relevant jobs are throwing together a festival. Got high hopes for a new Facebook profile picture in form of a shameless selfie with Stephen Hawking, but not holding my breath though. I'm a huge science buff!

What was the first gig you ever played and what's been the best so far?

For my first gig I was actually recruited for a rap gig by my older brother. He was playing bass in a big band at the time, and I was wearing huge pants, a skateboard and an attitude - and was deeply into hip hop, so he got me rapping and singing songs by Maceo Parker and James Brown with a big band at this Jazz Festival. Tons of fun!

Hard to pick a favourite gig, but the last couple of gigs we played were insanely fun. We were headlining a new festival in Trondheim called Bakkefestivalen. We had been rehearsing like crazy, played mainly new songs and brought along musical guests and a choir for the grand finale. I was super stoked and rode a wave of endorphins from the start of the gig until the next morning when the nachspiel ended.

'Lost', the new track from The Fjords, is out now via Propeller Recordings