KNOW this: Miranda Solberg, the Norwegian alt.folk singer who steps out into the music world as Louien, and who is about to release an EP, No Tomorrow, for Oslo’s Jansen Records, can grasp your heart in a second with voice and her melodicism.
The evidence, m’lud: it’s all there in her latest single, “Deep Within”, 189 seconds of mournful beauty which puts her right up there with fellow countrywoman Siv Jakobsen as an adept of stealing you into swoon with effortless delicacy. They make it look easy, and now your heart has flown over the seas to Norway.
A gossamer gleam of warm country guitars, Miranda’s voice drifting through like perfumed smoke, beauty is the watchword and sometimes you can say no more – nor need to.
“‘Deep Within’ is about when a change is coming, when you feel the fibres of your body change. When you’ve worked so hard to feel better and do better, and you can feel how it pays off,” she says.
Hailing from Nesodden, a peninsula facing the Norwegian capital across the Oslofjord, Louien first emerged in 2019 with an album, None Of My Words, which dealt with the trauma of her father’s death. She found some catharsis and closure, and No Tomorrow sees her facing forward and living now, unburdened.
We looked at the driving country rock of Louien’s previous single, “Better Woman”, in mid-March, here; and mere days before that she combined with Siv and The Northern Belle on the optimistic country grace of “No Rush”, should you need to investigate further (you really should!)
We’re told that on No Tomorrow Louien follows whichever path is necessary, lyrically and musically, to capture the prevailing emotion.
“I wanted to play around a bit more, not take myself or the songs too seriously as the debut was very heavy and took years to write.
“I mean, writing a thoroughly happy song might still be out of my reach, but I’m trying to get more than one perspective in there”, she concludes.
Louien’s No Tomorrow EP will be released by Jansen Records digitally on June 4th; pre-orders are being taken over at Bandcamp as we speak.
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