Josefin Winther is an acknowledged singer-songwriter from Bergen, Norway, with four albums under her belt along with hundreds of live shows in Northern Europe. She is often compared to the likes of PJ Harvey and Patti Smith. She has achieved the #1 position in the Norwegian album charts, with her third studio album. She wrote the song that came eighth in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, for her cousin. She’s also, of all things, a top basketball player.
Josefin Winther released her latest album, ‘Uendelig lys; Uendelig mørke’ (Infinite light; Endless darkness) in Norwegian at the tail end of last year. Courtesy of translated lyrics Josefin sent me I attempted to review it and concluded that she writes deeply and in a poetic style, that she sounds surprisingly French on some songs with a hint of Christine and the Queens, and that affairs of the heart, the difficulties of relationships, breakdowns, partings and reconciliations loom large in her stories. In conclusion, that the album isn’t an easy listen in any language but it rewards you for your perseverance.
I believe 'Annerledes' is the first new single since the album. Josefin and her band do something here that they did on the album; they start off with a gentle ballad which then builds and builds and builds with layer after layer of sound so that by the end it’s a different song altogether.
A large part of this is down to the instrumental and production skills of the musicians Josefin has surrounded herself with, who include Ronny Yttrehus (guitar) and Torjus Nevland (drums). Yttrehus also figures in Sol Heilo’s band, as did Nevland, and in a new project, Thom Hell, which will be streaming a live show shortly.
It seems as if this is the first of a cavalcade of new music from Winther over the next couple of weeks in advance of her resuming cancelled shows later in the year.