Norwegian progger Caligonaut, the solo project by artist Ole Michael Bjørndal, the guitarist who's also worked with Oak, Airbag and Bjørn Riis Band, has released a new video for Because We Are Not Apart, his first new music for over a year, which you can watch below.
"The new song is in the same musical landscape as [Magnified As Giants], but also represents a development and new elements," explains Ole Michael Bjørndal, aka Caligonaut. "I am quite certain that if you liked the album, you will thoroughly enjoy this song.
"The story in the song is about our common need to meet and to have meaningful relationships. I started writing the lyrics during the last covid shutdown in Norway and felt that I should try and describe some movement from a person’s isolation and dark thoughts to slowly experiencing the value of friendship. A lot of listeners complimented me on the lyrics for the Magnified... album, and I feel that I have been able to sustain that level in this new song.”
The new video has been created by renowned photographer and Prog writer Anne-Marie Forker, well known for her work with Marillion .
"The video for Because We Are Not Apart, like the song, is a story of isolation, but always present is light, representing friendship and our common need for relationships," explains Forker. "It's there, but you can't always feel or notice it. I filmed Ole in a white room with tall windows, as it reminded me of the human isolationism in some of Vilhelm Hammershøi's paintings. When I applied the finishing touches to the video, I was experiencing Covid isolation myself, but also the 'glittering sparks' of light that friendship can bring. It became personal."
Because We Are Not Apart reunites Bjørndal with performers from Magnified As Giants, notably Kristian Hultgren and Andreas W.S. Prestmo from Wobbler, Åsa Ree from Meer and Wobbler and Arild Brøter from Pymlico, but he also brings in some new names: keyboard player Christian Holberg Heggen, who co-wrote the music, church organist Thøstur Eirikson and renowned cellist Bjørn Solum.
"All these new people are neighbours that I met during Covid," adds Bjørndal. "Life is quite funny sometimes. We are on social lockdown, but still, you meet people with exceptional skills. Turns out I have a brilliant keyboard player and world class cellist as neighbours."
