EINAR SOLBERG – frontman
of Norwegian rock mavericks Leprous – is pleased to announce the release of his
debut solo album ‘16’ on the 2nd June 2023. Wildly diverse, but
spiritually rooted in Einar’s well-established musical world, ‘16’ is an album
that brims with surprises and spinning curveballs and features a collection of
intimate but extravagant collaborations.
Today sees the launch of the second single taken from the album, and you can watch the video for ‘A Beautiful Life’, directed by Elena Sihida, here:
Einar comments: “‘16’ is a very diverse album, and “A
Beautiful Life” is probably the most accessible song of the entire record! On
most songs I’ve collaborated with other composers, but this is one out of four
solo songs.”
‘A Beautiful Life’
features Einar joined by Keli Guðjónsson (drums), Tor Egil Kreken (bass),
Raphael Weinroth-Browne (cello), Chris Baum (violin), Ben Levin (guitar) &
Magnus Børmark (guitar).
Watch the video for the
previously released track ‘Grotto’ (feat. Magnus Børmark) here, also directed
by Elena Sihida: https://youtu.be/r_Ol_LSma6k
‘16’ will be released on
Ltd CD Digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP + LP-booklet & Digitally, and is now
available to pre-order here: https://einarsolberg-artist.lnk.to/sixteen
Einar Solberg is as
renowned for the tender honesty of his lyrics as he is for the eccentric
majesty of Leprous’ music. But even by his usual standards, ‘16’ is an
extremely emotional and dynamic piece of work. Einar describes the record as
“the closest I’ve ever come to writing a concept album” and explains that the
new songs are about a very specific and transformational period in the
musician’s life. This is the sound of a restless spirit in his absolute
element.
“It’s called 16
because that’s when the first really, really bad things started happening to me
in life. From 16 to 19, there were a lot of very life-defining moments that
happened to me, and that changed me,” he
says. “That’s when I kind of lost my innocence and I started realising
that life is serious and bad shit can happen. A lot of pretty drastic things
happened within those three years. But this album is not only about the bad
things. It’s also about some of the career-defining moments, like the moment I
started playing with the band and began to find a community to belong to.
Emotionally, I’m a bit of everything, so it covers the entire emotional
spectrum!”
’16’ finds Einar
collaborating with everyone from modern prog contemporaries like Bent Knee’s
Ben Levin and Agent Fresco’s Toti Gudnason, to experimental cellist (and
regular Leprous live musician) Raphael Weinroth-Browne and Magnus Børmark, best
known as a member of Norwegian alt-folk troupe Gåte. He also once again
collaborates with Ihsahn and Star Of Ash amongst many others. The record was
mixed by mixed by Adam Noble (Placebo, Biffy Clyro, Nothing But Thieves) and
mastered by Robin Schmidt (The 1975, Placebo, The Gaslight Anthem, etc.). The
cover artwork was designed by Elena Sihida.
The full track-listing
is as follows:
1. 16
(feat. Raphael Weinroth-Browne)
2. Remember
Me
3. A
Beautiful Life
4. Where
All The Twigs Broke (feat. Star Of Ash)
5. Metacognitive
6. Home
(feat. Ben Levin)
7. Blue
Light (feat. Asger Mygind)
8. Grotto
(feat. Magnus Børmark)
9. Splitting
The Soul (feat. Ihsahn)
10. Over
The Top
11. The
Glass Is Empty (feat. Tóti Guðnason)
Einar will debut his
solo material live with two exclusive shows at the Eindhoven & London
editions of Prognosis Festival (15th & 22nd April
respectively). You can find more details here: https://www.prognosis-festival.nl/