Martin Aston of The Times once wrote "If your band hails from the Norwegian port of Bergen you will sound melodic and sweet (for example Röyksopp and Kings of Convenience). Oslo, meanwhile, is a haven for punk. But if youre from the north's ragged archipelagos, where winter and summer extremes compete to send people mad, then you stand a great chance of turning out music that is as intensely dark and broody."
Madrugada, is a prime example of a Norwegian band that creates intensely dark and broody music. Much of the credit for this must go to their singer/song writer Sivert Høyem. With his mahogany voice and fine poetic line in paranoid disaffection, Sivert Høyem has often been compared to Nick Cave, Iggy Pop and David Gray. His handsome, weary, tobacco beaten voice sounds particularly haunting on the achingly beautiful ballads that he composes. Take a listen to his latest single below and find out for yourself.
Sivert Høyem (born 1976) grew up in Sortland, a small town in the beautiful region of Vesterålen in Norway. Initially, he started a group called Abbey's Adoption in the early 90's before becoming part of Madrugada. Sivert also sang on Friend, a big hit in Norway that was released to raise money for the Tsunami disaster fund.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Opposition was his first solo project, an album released with the help of his former backing group The Opposition, which comprised of Mikael Lindqvist (piano), Rasmus Johansen (bass), Simen Vangen (drums) and Fredrik Viklund (guitar). Sivert enlisted the help of producer/engineer Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Los Lobos, Neil Finn among others) with the album and the work took place at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.
In December, Sivert Høyem released Exiles, his second solo project, with the help of a new backing group called The Volunteers. The album was recorded in the studio of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives in Gothenberg, Sweden. The Volunteers, consists of Fredrik Viklund as co-producer and guitarist, Børge Fjordheim on drums, Lars Borg on bass and Mikael Lindqvist on keyboards.
The album has initially been released in Norway by Sivert's own record label Hektor Grammofon and EMI. Plans for a release outside Norway are unknown but his previous solo project and Madragada's albums are available online at Amazon.
Take a listen to Into The Sea from Exiles by Sivert Hyem and The Volunteers.
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