Long-term World
Release date: February 1st 2019
Label: Earthly Habit (EH004)
In the midst of Norway’s flourishing young alternative music scene you’ll find experimental indie duo Listen to Girl, who’s second album ‘Long-term World’ is due out on February 1st via Earthly Habit. Their intimate and delicate sound, an invitation to be guided through new territory via lush duel vocals and soaring chorus hooks.
Listen to Girl is the combination of guitarist/singer Christian Winther together with multi-instrumentalist Ina Sagstuen. With alluring songwriting, an innovative mindset, and breezy production, the duo embrace their love for post-punk, indie, folk and Bossa nova.
Debut album “Sea and Dirt” came out in 2016, and was picked up by Susanna Wallumrød, one of Norway’s most distinctive artists, and released as a special vinyl edition on her SusannaSonata label. She wrote: “Music that resonates with something on the inside. Catchy and unique, it is an art to write such songs. An experience of both something familiar and yet undiscovered.” On ‘Long-term World’ they’ve taken their largely acoustic and stripped down sound a step further, reminiscent of that 70s golden-era studio sound before you notice the unruly synth bass and lo-fi electronic drum samples underneath those vintage instruments. Here they also introduced moments of impulse and improvisation to their laboriously sculptured self-production, such as the distorted tuba solo on ‘Birds’, canny synth drips on ‘Once Yourself’, and the almost divine-sounding jazz drums and beautiful piano surrounding the ballad ‘Change’.
Poetic lyrics mirror the album title, such as ‘Tired Eyes a Moon’ – an abstract take on a not-so-abstract dystopian future. Winther explains “The lack of willpower to tackle environmental issues has left its mark, and the two voices echoing each other asks what went wrong, while taking their own share of blame – their eyes were even too tired to open up”.
‘Long-term World’ is recorded and produced by Listen to Girl, with added performances from some of Norway’s finest young musicians and friends: Anja Lauvdal (Broen, Moskus, Skrap) on synths and piano, Kyrre Laastad (Jenny Hval, Snøskred) and Andreas Winther (Megalodon Collective) on drums and percussion, Heida Mobeck (Skrap, Broen) on tuba and Magnus Nergaard (Monkey Plot, Torg) on bass. Long-term World is mixed by Marcus Forsgren (Jaga Jazzist, Bror Forsgren) and mastered by Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent).