Almost exactly one year after Frida Ånnevik released her critically acclaimed album Her bor, which won a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy), the thematically linked album that she announced would follow, Flyge fra, is being released.
Ånnevik´s biggest recording project
With the release of Flyge fra, Ånnevik is completing her biggest recording project yet: two related records that belong together, but at the same time mark out their own individual courses. They are closely related musically. Both albums show a more outgoing side of Frida, and offer music with an extrovert flavour. Some of Ånnevik’s catchiest and most spontaneous songs ever can be found on these two albums. When Her bor was released Frida said: “I don’t want to hear any more about my being low-key. That’s something I actually feel as though I have never been. I could have called it ‘Hedmars-fado’ right from the start in order to describe what’s vibrating, what’s smouldering, underneath.”
Thematical opposites
Thematically the two albums are complete opposites. “Her bor is all about belonging,” Ånnevik says. “Flyge fra is about the little things that make you feel different or like an outsider, the expectations that limit your scope of action. Small questions or answers that make you deviate a tiny bit from the standard. That little by little increase the feeling of not quite managing life, or being normal.” Ånnevik is clearly addressing the subject of identity, making Flyge fra her most openly political record thus far. Ole Ivar’s statement “If you can’t be who you should be, you should be who you are” has been a guiding principle for Frida: “It’s impossible to escape from your identity – it can’t be changed. It’s not a choice; it’s what you are. We can’t choose another one instead, push it away, or cover it up.” Because what you yourself are is not something you can run away from. “Identity is political. And I take it personally.” When asked why this record is appearing at this particular moment she replies: “Openly expressing fear for things or people that are different has become admissible. And it’s tacitly accepted that some people act on this fear. Like when neo-Nazis march in the streets, and the police let them. I can physically feel that the climate for debate is changing. The boundaries have changed for what it is acceptable to say.”
About Frida Ånnevik:
Frida Ånnevik, from Ridabu outside of Hamar, immediately became a name to be reckoned with when her debut album, Synlige hjerteslag, was released in 2010. Her low-key “pop in an open landscape”, her unique voice and her inventive lyrics appealed to both reviewers and a broad audience. Synlige hjerteslag was ranked the best Norwegian-language record of the year by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s programme Norsk på Norsk on the radio station P1, and was featured on lists of the year’s best albums by the TV show “Lydverket” and the newspaper Vårt Land, among others. Ånnevik was nominated for a Spellemannspris both as newcomer of the year and in the folk category. She also received the Vidar Sandbeck Cultural Award, “Regnbågåbrua”, and the Lyric Writers Fund debut award, “Lyspunkt”. She won a Spellemannspris for the lyrics on Ville Ord and has also received the Prøysenprisen award, the Hedmark County Cultural Award and the Neshornspris award from the newspaper Klassekampen. Her bor was released in 2016 and was awarded a Spellemannspris in the folk category.
