Ane Brun
Like Sigor Ros and Feist before her, Ane Brun had achieved critical acclaim with multiple album releases (five in Norway, two in the USA). But it has taken a timely ad sync to push that door open to the British general public, and none can be more striking than her stark, understated version of Cyndi Lauper’s ’True Colours’. Currently featuring in a huge Sky TV campaign for their High Definition output, which runs through to Christmas, if it has stopped you in your tracks, you won’t be the only one.
’Changing Of The Seasons’ was recorded at Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, with producer Valgeir Sigurdsson at the helm. With previous credits including Bjork, Sigor Ros, Cocorosie and Bonnie ’Prince’ Billy, you would expect a great album, but it’s that voice which makes ’Changing Of The Seasons’ so special.
Add some amazing string arrangements, written by Danish composer Malene Bay-Landin and American composer Nico Muhly (Bonnie â€Prince†Billy, Antony & the Johnsons) and the album makes for one of the most exciting debuts for the New Year.
Ane has established herself as one of the finest contemporary indie-folk voices in Scandanavia over five album releases through her own label DetErMine Records, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The daughter of a (still gigging) jazz singer, she was brought up on jazz before discovering the classics (Dylan, Baez, Mitchell etc).
She didn’t record any music until she went to University, but she did make her debut album while finishing her studies. By her third album, duets with Ron Sexsmith and Teitur along the way, she was touring around the world, with demand as far afield as Australia and Japan, collecting music awards (including a Norwegian Grammy) and platinum selling records.
‘Changing Of The Seasons’ marks her second album release in the United States, the follow up to her last 2006 studio album ‘A Temporary Dive’ which was met with glowing reviews. Grouped with the freak-folk artists Devandra Bernhart, Cocorosie and Joanna Newsom, Time Magazine describe her as “a mix of Bjork’s unpredictability and Joni Mitchell’s directnessâ€, Interview called the album “a work of haunting minimalismâ€, People Magazine as “melancholy splendour†and Pitchfork as “the best of subtle, spacious songsâ€. The new album is expected to provide her mainstream breakthrough Stateside.
From Molde in Norway, famous for it’s mountain panoramas, it would follow that Ane’s music is most noted for it’s stark, spacial arrangements, but ’Changing Of The Seasons’ provides a free-flowing eclectic collection of songs, with it’s share of country, hymnal and folk inflections.
Sky picked up on Ane Brun after her publisher, Sony ATV, thought her version of the Cyndi Lauper classic would be perfect for their stills image campaign.