After two albums devoted to Ireland and Scotland, Alix Boivert and The Curious Bards cross the North Sea to Sweden and Norway. Rejecting the artificial distinction between ‘art’ and ‘folk’ music, they give us a chance to hear the colourful and varied world of eighteenth-century Scandinavian songs and dances.

Kveikur (pronounced [ˈkveikʏr], fuse or candlewick) is the seventh studio album from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. It was released 12 June 2013 in Japan, on 17 June internationally, and on 18 June in the United States through XL Recordings. It is the first album to be fully released through XL after the band departed EMI and Parlophone during the label's acquisition by Universal Music Group in 2012. It is the first album since their debut, Von, not to feature Kjartan Sveinsson, following his departure in 2012, and the last to feature drummer Orri Páll Dýrason before his departure in 2018. The cover is a photo by the Brazilian artist Lygia Clark. Kveikur sees a new direction taken by Sigur Rós, both musically and thematically. The band has described the album's sound as "more aggressive" than any of their previous works. All tracks are sung in Icelandic, although Yfirborð contains some reversed words at the start, which can be considered Hopelandic.

Norwegian folk musician Sinikka Langeland, singer and player of the kantele (the Finnish table harp) is a distinctly non-traditional traditionalist, redefining "folk" in successive projects. 'Maria's Song' finds her in the company of two distinguished classical musicians - organist Kare Nordstoga and "giant of the Nordic viola" Lars Anders Tomter - and on a mission to restore Marian texts to sacred music, weaving folk melodies in between the timeless strains of J S Bach. Langeland made a lot of friends with her sparkling ECM debut Starflowers: "There are jewels everywhere on this arresting example of ego-free music-making. One of the albums of this or any other year" raved the Irish Times. Where Starflowers brought Langeland into the orbit of jazz improvisers, Maria's Song is a meeting and cross referencing of folk and 'classical' energies, and also a righting of historical 'injustice': Religious folk songs are amongst the most distinctive elements of the Norwegian folk tradition, yet the Virgin Mary rarely appears in them.

From Norwegian folk singer and harpist Sinikka Langeland comes a seductively subtle contemporary jazz album. The lyrics are all Norwegian or Swedish (the sleeve notes have translations), and celebrate the poetry of Edith Södergran and Olav Håkonson Hauge – the first a shortlived pioneer of modern Swedish poetry, the second the Norwegian "lumberjack poet" who came to the art in his 40s. Langeland's band brings together trumpet-player Arve Henriksen and saxophonist/composer Trygve Seim, and it's a magical combination. Despite a predominant feeling of tranquillity, the singer sometimes adds an almost Nina Simone-like bite, for which Seim's smoky sound, Henriksen's ghostly multiphonics and Anders Jormin's bass are ideal foils. The mood is often broken by grooves that suggest some strange fjord-village cabaret music, or episodes that are like Nordic Miles Davis. It's a real one-off.

While the world came to a stop during the pandemic, the three-piece retreated in the studio to write and record upcoming album ‘Drif’. In the band’s fashion, they sought for forgotten songs, made ruffling leaves into instruments and wrote lyrics spreading messages of love for each other and respect for nature. ‘Drif’ will be HEILUNG’s most immersive and successful work to date. In their own words: “Drif means “gathering”. A throng of people, a horde, a crowd, a pack. In symbiosis with the album title, Drif consists of a flock, a collection, a gathering, a collage of songs, that much like little flames were seeking towards each other, to join, to bond, to create, and be greater together. This album has very clearly dictated its own path. Our attempts to tame it was repeatedly fruitless and once we came to this realization, the creative flow surged forward with immense force. So much so that sometimes it felt like the songs wrote themselves. All the songs on Drif have their own stories. They have each their place and sense of belonging, with inspiration not only from Northern Europe, but from the ancient great civilisations.”

60 years have passed since the release of a recording that would change Swedish jazz forever. Bill Evans, with his incredible touch and mastery of harmony has made an undeniable imprint on jazz musicians all over the world - and through his collaboration with Monica Zetterlund on "Waltz for Debby" in 1964, a new era for Scandinavian music was born.Impressions of Evans is an effort to pay tribute to this - a gesture of gratitude for making pine trees and 5th Avenue come together in a remarkably seamless, beautiful way and for being the perfect example of how one plus one sometimes equals three.

Mikael Wiehe & Ebba Forsberg release new album with Dylan interpretations in Swedish. The album "Med Kropp Och Själ" will be released on October 4 both in physical, CD and LP, and digital form. Mikael Wiehe's relationship with Bob Dylan has been long and good. Ebba Maria Knigge Forsberg (born in Stockholm on 31 July ) is a Swedish pop singer. She sings solo and was a member of many musical band projects, most notably in Traste Lindéns Kvintett. Forsberg's family moved from Sweden to Tortola in the West Indies when she was five years old, although her older sister Kajsa Ribbing.

With Fastlandet, Torun Eriksen breaks new ground and does most things for the first time: The lyrics are Norwegian; the format trio; the soundscape electro-acoustic; and the music improvised and through-composed side by side, layer upon layer and simultaneously.

“This early 70's Norwegian band played together for years without ever releasing an album; that is, until label Record Heaven heard about them in the late 90's and convinced them to re-record songs they had played live at the time. We can now enjoy a collection of highly energetic, raw and aggressive 70's power rock recorded with pristine modern technology. The band's material is reminiscent of BLACK SABBATH, URIAH HEEP, early SCORPIONS and JETHRO TULL, albeit a very manic TULL as the flutes battle it out savagely with pounding guitars. “En Fix Ferdig Mann”, their 8th album, and the very first sung in their native Norwegian language. And just as their fellow rockers from Norway, Arabs In Aspic, did with their 2017 album “Syndenes Magi” (also on Apollon) they pull out a very impressive and unique album whilst singing in Norwegian, arguable their masterpiece.

Jag är inte rädd för mörkret (Swedish for I Am Not Afraid of the Dark) is the tenth studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released on April 25, 2012 by Sonet Records (Universal Music) and it was the band's debut release with the label since their departure from Sony Music in June 2011. The album was preceded by the lead single "999" on March 28, 2012. Jag är inte rädd för mörkret received positive reviews from Swedish music critics. It debuted at number one in Norway and Sweden, at number two in Denmark and at number five in Finland.

The music of this album is a clear example of the deep-rooted migrational nature of our local existence. It is music of a remote past, marked by radically different life conditions. It is music from distant areas connected by wandering people in search of better life conditions. It is music handed down by word of mouth for a long time and finally documented in written form during the last century. It is music to be recovered, reconstructed and re-contextualized in an ongoing process of searching, appropriating and re-inventing, of sense making at the intersection of a resonating past and today's breathing.