I've still got the sounds of that lovely 'Rami Vierula' album going around my head, and probably will have for some time, but we can't stand still for too long as we have so much to get through, and we're delighted to be able to introduce you to a part Norwegian band who've just formally released their first single, and whom I've been keeping an eye on for a short while
'Ålesund' are admittedly only 'slightly' Norwegian, but definitely qualify for NMR inclusion because singer Alba Torriset is half Norwegian, and they have, after all, named their band after the beautiful west Norwegian town of 'Ålesund', which I'm convinced we've written about before, although I can't remember in exactly what context. Anyway they're a 4 piece band from Bristol, which has such a thriving music scene and the band members have played in a good collection of local bands including the likes of 'Toyface', 'Madilan', 'Little Thief' and 'Loralie'.
So 'Ålesund' have now released 'Shift & Flux', and the reason this appeals to me is that this has a really Nordic feel to it, atmospheric guitars and drumming which remind of other Norwegian bands we've featured such as 'Kalandra', but here the vocals move off in another direction, there's a real power to 'Alba Torriset's' voice that makes it a real feature of the song. Overall though this still has a laid back soundscape, 'Ålesund' might physically reside in a British city but their spirit lives somewhere in the mountains and fjords of West Norway,
This is 'Shift & Flux':
A 4 track 'Alesund' EP entitled 'Shift & Flux' will be released in January 2019, and the good news for those people within striking distance of Manchester is that they'll be playing a gig at the lovely Castle Hotel on Tuesday 6th November, they'll be on stage at about 8.45pm.
Photo Credit – Antonio Petronzio