Artist Of The Week #210 - Louien
This week’s Artist of the Week is Norwegian indie-folk act Louien - who has just released her new EP ‘Figure Me Out’ via Jansen Records.
Emerging from Nesodden, a peninsula in the Oslo fjord, Live Miranda Solberg (Louien) fuses the fiercer elements of Feist and Sharon Van Etten’s songwriting with the timelessness qualities present in the work of Carole King and Gillian Welch. We last heard from Louien in the summer of 2021 when she shared her highly-acclaimed, liberating EP No Tomorrow. An attempt to write from a less serious perspective, it was the antidote to her 2019 debut album None of My Words which dealt with the trauma left behind by her father’s death.
Figure Me Out is in many ways a sequel to last year’s No Tomorrow. The lead single, ‘No’, again isn’t the result of deep contemplation but rather a straight-up expression of anger at someone overstepping boundaries. Like the last EP too, ‘No’ defies expectation - in the conclusion, the gritty, soaring shape the song has taken so far recasts itself to reveal a fragmentary piano and Louien’s skeletal vocal, which grows more distant and distant until it recedes entirely. ‘No’ is written alongside Preben Sælid Andersen - Louien decided to co-write this song and the title track with him to challenge the conventions of her songwriting.
She took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Louien - how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hi! I'm good, happy and excited about the new release! It feels surreal as always, I've been sitting on these songs for over a year, and I must say it's quite scary to not have any control over who listens to them anymore. But most of all it's a joy!
It is called ‘Figure Me Out’ - what is the meaning behind that?
That's for you to figure out! Haha. No, in all seriousness these songs are reflections of how we hide ourselves from the world and from the people we love, and how I at least have longed for people to understand me, especially when I struggle with understanding who I am myself.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
It was recorded in Brageveien Studio in Oslo, with my producer Øyvind Røsrud. We had so many beautiful moments recording this EP; it was in the thick of the pandemic, we had nothing else to do but to create music, so that's what we did. We didn't set any rules for the process except that we would do whatever we felt each individual song needed, and so we've had a bunch of different people come in and play on the record. It was so much fun!
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
As Øyvind and me have worked together since my first record that came out in 2019 and Louien has become a project we're both devoted to, this record was a natural next step from the last EP. I'd say the key theme on this EP is staying true to the story of the songs, as well as freedom from genre. We've been very inspired by artists like James Blake, Ane Brun and Cassandra Jenkins.
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
I have no idea! I've never thought of my music like that, but would have loved to see it as the soundtrack of a feisty rom com from the 90's, maybe Runaway Bride (without the "happy" ending).
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
I really like the song "Crazy", which is about working through old shit when entering a new relationship. Asking your partner to stay when you feel completely stuck can be so difficult: "progress ebbs and flows, my love/ I'm just not ready to move on/ I've been standing by this door/ for what feels like ages, I know/ but for the time being, please be patient".
Now the EP is out there - what next?
First up is touring Norway with the EP, and then heading back to the studio in December! I have a bunch of new songs I can't wait to record!
