This was written when Ljodahått played at festivals in Edinburgh, and we like it : «This group take their name from a verse form in Old Norse poetry. « Ljodahått” can be roughly translated as “magic song” or even “trollsong”, but what they do is a lot more complex than the assortment of grunts and growls from the average beast-beneath-a-bridge. Ljodahått take the work of Norwegian poets – mostly from the late 19th to early 20th century – and compose original music to fit alongside. Think of something in between Arcade Fire and Leonard Cohen and you’d be on the right track: poems and lyrics sung and spoken in Norwegian to the accompaniment of a band that can reach up to 11 members. At times they can be slow and lilting, at others they shift into something closer to rock and pop. It’s an intriguing range that reflects the polyglot backgrounds of this group of Norwegian, French, English, German, Swiss and Austrian musicians and composers. Lead man Magne Håvard Brekke set up the project after 25 years of wandering Europe. His ambition is to celebrate Norway’s cultural heritage of poetry and music, exploring how one can inspire and transform the other. The words could be taken from Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, or poet-cum-lumberjack Hans Børli, but the music is all original composition. And although the vocalists hail from across Europe, everything’s sung in Brekke’s native tongue. Don’t let this put you off: even if your Norwegian is a little lacking, it sounds pretty good all the same.»
“Ljodahatt bring Norwegian to life in music. Intoxicating.“
Liberation (France)
“This is how Tom Waits would sing in Norwegian.“
Dagbladet (Norway)
“A band on a glorious suicide mission.“
taz Berlin (Germany)
“Ljodahått are a motley crew. Composers, musicians and actors who, on stage, turn the poems of their Norwegian compatriots into a musical happening.“
Le nouvel Observateur (France)
“Norwegian poetry – performed through a music that’s
Vart Land (Norway)
rough and ready but filled with humour and human warmth.“
“A daring mixture of folk, pop and rock – superb.“
Dag Og Tid (Norway)
“From Edda to Ibsen, Norwegian literature set to a quirky groove and perfomed with passion.“
France Culture (France)
“A rare musical treat … intimate yet expressive … Scandinavian psychedelia“
Times of India (India)
“… poetic, vibrant and bursting with energy.“
Le Figaro (France)
