Kanaan & Ævestaden:
Langt, langt vekk
Two powerful young bands combine musical forces, with an altogether unique outcome.
The psychedelic power trio Kanaan and the neo-folk innovators Ævestaden are both
among Norway’s busiest and most critically lauded bands.

With Langt, langt vekk (eng: far, far
away) the two bands have created a
singular album. Traditional
Norwegian folk music and rock has
been combined several times
before, but nothing sounds like this.
Kanaan contributes its members’
jazz/psych background, rooted in
improvisation and jamming.
Ævestaden’s modern folktronica
utilizes several ancient traditional
instruments, in addition to the
incorporation of traditional Swedish
folk music. The result is something
truly groundbreaking, in where both
bands’ identities shines through

Langt, langt vekk serves up reworked old traditionals and psalms along with grand new compositions. It is courageous and both meditative and progressive. Furthermore, the album is impressively coherent, given the two band’s wildly different musical backgrounds. Fiddles, cow’s horn, kravik lyre, mouth harp, synths, harmonies, heavy guitars and a thundering rhythm section: Musically, it is impressively versatile, as well as consistently tasteful.

Kanaan
Kanaan has released four albums on Jansen Records since 2021, and the tally adds up to seven studio albums and one live album in total, since the band’s 2018 debut. The band came to prominence with psychedelic, jazz-inspired rock, but has gradually moved in a heavier direction, where their latest studio efforts have been labeled stoner rock. Kanaan consists of Eskild Myrvoll, Ask Vatn Strøm and Ingvald André Vassbø and in 2021 they won the Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammy) in the rock category.

Ævestaden
Ævestaden is a neo-traditional folk trio, which combines ancient instruments and folk songs with electronic music in a cutting-edge and idiosyncratic sound. The band
consists of Norwegian Eir Vatn Strøm (the sister of Kanaan’s Ask Vatn Strøm) and
Kenneth Lien, along with Swedish Levina Storåkern. They have received several awards for the albums Jag är sen igjen (a collaboration with Benedikt) and Solen var bättre där.

Græns

Græns är utforskande musik - utan att vara svår. Ibland går det att dansa till den, ibland bara står du och flummar och undrar vad som händer, fast det samtidigt känns gött. Med inspiration från alla möjliga håll - svensk gammelpsyk, nordafrika och mellanöstern, the upsetter, autotune och experimentella utsvävningar. I våras släppte dom en ny 7a på det göteborgsbaserade bolaget Fauna. Den singeln pekade ut deras nya inriktning och dom medlemmar som nu utgör Græns. Under sommaren och hösten har de spelat runt i Sverige och GBG med omnejd - följ med vidare in i musiken och se vad som händer.