Kanaan & Ævestaden

A spectacular collision of contrasting worlds, //Langt, Langt Vekk// (//Far, Far Away//) sees psychedelic drone-rockers Kanaan teamed with sometimes trad, sometimes trippy folk act Ævestaden on their joint debut LP. “At first it was like a joke,” smiles Kenneth Lien, one of Ævestaden’s three multi-instrumentalists. “What if these very different bands joined forces?”

As Kanaan guitarist Ask Vatn Strøm is the brother of Eir Vatn Strøm, lyre and Mellotron player with Ævestaden, there was a connection there already, plus the two Norwegian trios were mutual fans. “We’ve seen Ævestaden play live a lot, and we love their albums”, confirms Kanaan’s drummer and vocalist Ingvald Vassbø. “We’d wanted to work with them for a while.”

Chatting from their respective homes in Oslo, Lien and Vassbø paint a vivid picture of the snowbound, five-day sessions which birthed Kanaan & Ævestaden’s eclectic, uncompromising debut. “It was right before Christmas 2023 in this old hut some hours outside of Oslo,” says Vassbø. “We bought this huge salted sheep leg to eat and wore thick wool clothes. It was very primitive in an inspiring way and there were two wild moose in the garden.”

Soon came tunes such as //Habbor og Signe//, which pitches camp somewhere between Fairport Convention, Tinariwen’s desert rock and //The Wicker Man//’s folk-horror soundtrack. //Dalebu Jonsson//, meanwhile, begins sedately and builds to a full-on, acid-rock freak-out. “It’s about a giant who kidnaps the king’s daughter, then the king sends 7,000 men after him and Dalebu Jonsson slaughters all 7,000 of them with blood up to his neck!”, laughs Lien. “It’s an old folk tale.”

//Langt, Langt Vekk// merges ancient and modern; tumultuous drone rock with near-choral passages. Part of its magic stems from its use of a specific ancient folk instrument named the Kravic lyre. “The name Kravic comes from the old farm where it was found”, says Lien. “It’s been carbon-dated to about 1580, and it adds mystery and something exotic from the past.

“We also have these on the album.” he adds, reaching down to produce a cow-horn flute. It’s this instrument, Lien explains. which Ævestaden’s Levina Storåkern plays on //Vallåt Efter C.G Färge//, an ancient goat-herder’s tune whose opening section she recorded al fresco in Helsinki. “I taught us to play in 15/8 for that one”, Lien continues, demonstrating the complex count.“One of my wishes for this project was a drone guitar-riff in an alternative time-signature.”
Asked what he get from this project that he doesn’t get from Kanaan, Vassbø cites the added possibilities of being in a band with six members. For Lien, though, it’s more simple. “When Ævestaden play alone we sit down with these delicate old instruments”, he smiles. “As a kid I played in Black Metal bands standing-up with my guitar. Now I get to rock-out again!” JMN

PROG FILE

LINE-UP:

Kanaan: Ask Vatn Strøm (guitar, vocals), Eskild Myrvoll (bass, guitar, synthesizers, vocals), Ingvald André Vassbø (drums, percussion, vocals)

Ævestaden: Eir Vatn Strøm (vocals, Kravik lyre, Mellotron), Kenneth Lien (vocals, fiddle, octave fiddle, mouth harp, Kravik lyre, electric and acoustic guitar), Levina Storåkern (vocals, fiddle, octave fiddle, cow’s horn)

SOUNDS LIKE: A inspired mix of Can, The Incredible String Band, 70s Norwegian folk act Folque and Sigur Rós.

CURRENT RELEASE: //Langt, Langt Vekk// is out now via Jansen Records

WEBSITES

https://kanaanband.bandcamp.com/album/langt-langt-vekk
https://aevestaden.bandcamp.com/music

— James McNair