KLINGRA - CD

On his new album ‘Klingra’, released 11th October 2019, Nyberg has crafted a gentle yet fervent post-classical exploration into the temperament of intertwined cycles. Both the music and poetry (in Faroese) are composed by using interlocked cyclical patterns. Like the gears in a clock, the parallel themes intersect at points, creating contracted dissonance or lifting consonance. The overarching experience is deeply contemplative and melancholic, with a light of emancipation always just ahead. Obvious comparisons would be the works of Hauschka, Goldmund, Jonny Greenwood and Dustin O’Halloran.

“Klingra (circle in Faroese) is one of my more delicate and introspective pieces that leans one degree further into the neo-classical realm. I've been working with the theme of circles/cycles to inspire both the way the music is composed and the story within the poetry”, says Nyberg.

With a sound palette of two pianos, a string quartet (The Danish String Quartet), pedal steel guitar, synth bass and two drummers supporting the haunting vocals of Ólavur Jákupsson (Yann Tiersen), Klingra’s eight tracks flow one into the other, rippling with layers of ostinatos of unequal lengths, leading to a feeling of constantly being driven forward on an obscured path. The listener can be excited by both the mathematical design of the music as well as the raw emotional expression.

There’s a norse melancholy and cheerful madness that runs deep through the heart of ‘Klingra’, no more evident than on the opening three compositions. The rhythmic and melodic finesse of ‘Skjálvtin’ (The Impact), makes way for a deeply emotive ‘Litirnir’ (The Colours), before ‘Himnakroppanir’ (Celestial Bodies), is the crest on a wave that’s been building over the last two pieces, as it surges with urgent interlocking patterns, as the tension gradually builds.

Common in Nyberg’s work is the use of minimalistic patterning (akin to the techniques of Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt), which fluctuate between creating a tidal propulsion and a sense of austere fragility. This is consistently contrasted against epic post-rock swells that are both sensual and disbanding.

The team of musicians who worked with Nyberg on ‘Klingra’ come from many corners of the Nordic countries. From The Faroe Islands there is Teitur and Dánjal á Neystabø on pianos, Mikael Blak (Eivør) on bass, and Ólavur Jákupsson (Yann Tiersen) singing in Faroese. From Norway the percussionist Knut Finsrud, from Denmark Niels Skovmand on violin, Ulrik Brohuus on drums and featuring The Danish String Quartet.

Available on CD, vinyl and digital formats, the vinyl edition has been utilized as a compositional tool. Two different introductions are pressed into parallel grooves on the record, offering the listener two alternate listening experiences depending on where the needle begins on the circle. The B side ends with a closed loop that musically brings one back to the start of the album.