Eivor - Slor album review

Experimental musings from Game Of Thrones-related Faroese musician

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Eivor - Slor album artwork

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You might not have heard of Eivør Pálsdóttir before, but you’ve probably heard her distinctive vocals on the opening credits of the Viking TV drama The Last Kingdom, or on trailers for Game Of Thrones.

After a successful career in the Nordics, the classically-trained violinist turned solo artist is now seeking to conquer English-speaking audiences with a translated version of 2015’s electro-orientated Slør. Pálsdóttir has embraced folk, pop and trip hop, but her latest release is an album of two halves. Experimental, but accessible, Slør’s dark electronic beats bring to mind artists such as Portishead, Massive Attack and Depeche Mode, but its spine-tingling vocals are more reminiscent of Kate Bush. Poppy opener Surrender holds a mere whisper of the frosty tracks that follow, each evoking memories of Pálsdóttir’s childhood on the rugged Faroe Islands with lyrics drawn from the Nordic myths she grew up on. There are spiky beats on Broken, stormy waters on Salt and haunting atmospheres on Into The Mist and Fog Banks. Stunning closer Trøllabundin proves she’s far more than just a pop singer; this is intelligent and thoughtful music with just enough mystery to set her apart from her more populist peers.

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.