Maria Norseth Garli
GOLDEN
This is Maria’s debut album.
Release: May 22 2020
Her music can be described as an experimental form of singer-songwriter. The natural and frail qualities of her characteristic voice and the acoustic guitar is delicately shaped by producer Kyrre Laastad. Simplicity, slowness and time are the most important tools. Almost like pop installations, pieces of music that keeps on repeating and where the build up is so slow that you almost do not notice it.
After graduating from her music studies in Gothenburg, Maria settled down on the outskirts of the Fosen peninsula of Trøndelag, Norway. On the weathered edge of the Atlantic Ocean - with wind and sea spray in her hair - she wrote these eight pieces that make out her debut album: GOLDEN.
She is now taking her jazz masters degree at the Department of Music, NTNU, Trondheim. Her main focus is free improvised music and how to circumvent traditional genre restrictions. Her background as an improvising musician and voice artist really shines through in this collection of melancholic songs. The rawness and stripped down qualities of her voice and lyrics is at the epicenter, and guides this seemingly ever-repeating music.Kyrre Laastad has been an important collaborator in this process, contributing both as a producer and a musician, as well as recording and mixing the album. Together they have identified the core of each song and peeled away all but that which is truly needed. GOLDEN is all about maximalistic minimalism - in instrumentation, arrangements, production and album cover. Maria has been working on GOLDEN since she started her masters studies. Together with the music she is also releasing a book with contemplations, observations and small texts on being in - breathing and living with - music, not only on stage but also in everyday life and as a life project throughout the last decade. A credo in her musicianship is the importance of seeing the whole picture - a picture where music, human and life is deeply connected, forever complementing and challenging each other.
Musicians:
Maria Norseth Garli - lyrics & music, voice, guitar, cassette player and crackle box
Tor Haugerud – drums
Kyrre Laastad – synth and guitar
Lars Ove Fossheim - guitar and voice
Eira Bjørnstad Foss - violin
Viktor Wilhelmsen - guitar and voice
Jo Ranheim - guitar
“one of this year’s best Norwegian albums”
“Maria Norseth Garli’s language is saturated and the music is expressive”
“Garli is behind one of the most ambitious releases this year.”
“Substance in every little phrase and every note”
“Både vakkert og vilt med hele spekteret.”
“They say that not everything that glitters is gold but this is definetly the real deal.”
“With a bunch of extremely talented fellow musicians and supporters, she has made a record that is extremely audible and beautiful, and that rises above most that comes out of such music these days.”
PRODUCTION // OF 164
Produced by Kyrre Laastad
Recorded and mixed at Øra Studio, January-February 2020 by Kyrre Laastad
Mastered by Karl Klaseie at Øra Mastering
Cover art by Audun Lønning Gjerdi
Photo by Juliane Schütz
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