Kristin Asbjørnsen // Hjemveier //LP

Kristin Asbjørnsen is releasing her long awaited solo album Hjemveier. This is her first album on which she sings in her native Norwegian language, and her first collaboration with the KKV label . “A big pile of notebooks from several years of my life was the basis for my lyrics,” Kristin says. “The title Hjemveier (“Ways home”) came to me early in the process. There was something embracing in that word, giving direction and tracing connections. The songs needed time and different soils in which to grow,” she adds. The enchanting songs circle around such emotions as breaking away and belonging. They carry echoes of wonder and acknowledgement of life’s experiences. The intimate tone of the songs hints at our shared feelings, of being a home for each other. Kristin’s strong sense of melody and poetry weaves together rich guitar sounds, piano, calabash and kora into shimmering soundscapes with serene intensity and power. This is expressed through the unique presence of Kristin’s voice. The songs, given form through Kristin’s piano, carry impulses from contemplative Nordic jazz, lullabies and West African Madinka. The full and rich soundscape is enhanced by her playful interaction with Olav Torget (guitars and bass), Eivind Aarset (guitars, bass and electronica) and Anders Engen (percussion, keyboards, dobro and vocals), and with Suntou Susso (kora and vocals) and Monica Ifejilika (vocals) as important contributing voices. Kristin Asbjørnsen has been one of the most original and criticallypraised artists in Norwegian music over the last 30 years. Her artistic expression has received an overwhelming response through her albums and many years of international touring. The new Norwegian songs have already gained much praise. Parts of the new material were initially presented in Kristin’s commissioned work for Cosmopolite Scene, Oslo in 2022. Kristin’s earlier solo albums have all in various ways dealt with exile and belonging: Whereas her first album Wayfaring Stranger - A Spiritual Journey (2006) expressed a yearning for movement, experience of loss and transformation were central in The Night Shines Like the Day (2009). I’ll Meet You in the Morning (2013) dealt with transition and reunification. Impressions of life were highlighted in Kristin’s previous album Traces of You (2018), and the now soon to be released Hjemveier deals with the journey of life and returning home.