Lydhør: Ævestaden

“Ævestaden – modern folk music at its very best” - PULS

Ævestaden (NO/SE) are long chorales, modern lyrics, pop songs and a soundscape that is not afraid of either the bright, dirty, electronic or traditional.

Current with their second full-length album "Solen var bättre där", on the record label Supertraditional, for which they received the Manifestgalan award in the Folk Music of the Year category.

The Swedish-Norwegian trio debuted with the album "Ingen mere gråter på Heilo", Grappa in 2021. For this album, they won the Folkelarmprisen in the open class that same year. With the traditional and the modern seamlessly connected, the group quickly gained a place on the folk music scene — and over time, attention has expanded. In 2022, they released a collaborative EP with the indie band Benedikt, "Jag är sen igen", on Koke Plate. For this release, they won TONO's Edvardprisen in the Lyrics category. Ævestaden has been heard at, among others, By:Larm, Førdefestivalen, VillVillVest, Bergen Festival, Northern Norway Festival, BLÅ, John Dee and Midgardsblot. Besides Norway and Sweden, they have also played in Poland, France, Scotland, England, Germany, Denmark and Belgium. They have played support for Valkyrien and Sara Parkman on several occasions. Recently also for Ingrid Olava.

- "Little mirror on the wall there, what is the hottest thing in Norway here?" The answer is, strangely enough you might say, among other things, Norwegian traditional music in a modern guise." - Dagbladet

Their varying instrument combinations, with lyres, fiddle, kantele, vocals, mouth harp and electronics, open up a unique soundscape when timeless harmonies, and layers of minimalist motifs, create an open and atmospheric world.

- “A barren, stripped-down sound world that moves towards an almost reduced simplicity, bordering on a naivism with reprises and repetitions.” - Magnus Östnäs (Lira Musikmagasin)

The songs are about the conscious and the subconscious — the mundane and the sacred — about life and death. Here the great emotions are depicted; everything from an intensive prayer to be admitted into the kingdom of God and a wish that someone, someday, will think of you in the evenings.

The latest album is encompassed by a consistent and dreamy longing back to a state when everything was better than it is now - The sun was better there.

The trio is currently a recipient of the NOPA grant 2022 and has been on the TV program NRK Scenen since January 2023. The band was nominated for the Songlines Music Awards 2023 in the Europe category. They also received the Manifest Prize for The Sun was better there in the folk music of the year category in 2024.

-"Neither pop nor jazz. Just modern, good and exciting folk music." - Arild Rønsen (PULS)

Kenneth Lien - kraviklyre, mouth harp, vocals
Levina Storåkern - cow horn, fiddle, kantele, vocals, electronics
Eir Vatn Strøm - vocals, kraviklyre, electronics