Ævestaden

Ævestaden (NO/SE) is long psalms, modern texts, pop songs, and a soundscape that is not afraid of the clear, dirty, electronic, or traditional.

 

Ævestaden recently released their second full-length album, "Solen var bättre där," on the record label Supertraditional. 

 

The band just received the Edvard Award in the category “Lyrics”.

 

The Swedish-Norwegian trio made their debut with the album "Ingen Mere Gråter" on Heilo, Grappa in 2021. For this album, they won the Folkelarmprisen in the open class. They were nominated in the Europe category in Songlines music magazine in 2023 for the same album. 

By seamlessly connecting the traditional and the modern, the group quickly found a place in the folk music scene, and over time they gained attention from a broader audience. In 2022, they released a collaborative EP with the indie band Benedikt, titled "Jag är sen igen," on Koke Plate. For the lyrics on this album they were nominated for the Edvard-awards, along with such names as AURORA, and in September 2023, they won. 

 

In 2023 they released their second full length album “Solen var bättre där”, the theme of the album is characterized by an overarching and dreamy longing for a time when everything was better than it is now. For this album they received the Manifest prize for Folk music of the year.

Ævestaden has performed at events such as By:Larm, Førdefestivalen, VillVillVest, Festspillene i Bergen, Festspillene i Nord-Norge and Midgardsblot. In addition to Norway and Sweden, they have also performed in Poland, France, Scotland, England, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.

Ævestaden’s music could be described as ‘dream folk.’ - Songlines 

 

Their varied combinations of instruments, including lyres, fiddles, kanteles, vocals, mouth harps, and electronics, create a unique soundscape where timeless harmonies and layers of minimalist motifs create an open and atmospheric world.

 

The songs explore the conscious and the subconscious, the secular and the sacred, life and death. They depict profound emotions, ranging from an intense prayer to gain entry into God's kingdom to a desire for someone to think of you in the evenings.

 

The trio is recipients of the NOPA scholarship for 2022 and has been featured on national television in the TV program NRK Scenen. 

 

Eir Vatn Strøm - Vocals, Kravik lyre, electronics

Kenneth Lien - Kravik lyre, mouth harp, vocals 

Levina Storåkern - Cow’s horn, fiddle, kantele, vocals, electronics