Eivør – Slør

Copenhagen-based Faroese artist Eivør is of considerable standing in Scandinavia, boasting ten solo albums and notable slots on trailers for TV shows such as Homeland and Game of Thrones. It’s curious, then, that 2017's Slør (an English-translated re-imagining of her Faroese-sung 2015 album release of the same title) is Eivør’s first commercial release in the UK, blending her classically trained voice and dark, immaculate electronica with elements drawn from her Faroese homeland to mixed results.

Slør certainly makes for a sumptuous listen, its opening track Surrender evoking Nordic storm, wind and ocean with a glacial synthesiser line that hits hard as Eivør’s crystalline vocals soar over the top. Taking elements from Euro-pop, Faroese folk and trip-hop, the record’s electronics glimmer and land with laser accuracy, from Salt’s dramatic synth stabs to the floating atmosphere of Fog Banks.

With its lyrics translated by a poet from their original Faroese, Slør’s problem may be one of crossed cultural wires as, while glittering, much of it doesn’t emotionally land. As Eivør spotlessly sings about ‘torrents of yearning’ and ‘hair smooth as kelp’, Slør’s overwritten nature gives it a seriousness that makes it seem alien. Although there is clear feeling on the album (Fog Banks outlines a battle with dementia), the most mystery can be found in the percussive Trollabudin, tellingly the only song in Faroese.

Slør is an extremely well-produced introduction to Eivør for British audiences, but captures the spirit of her home islands from too far a distance – it’s a shimmering spectacle, but perhaps what we wanted was more of the crags.

Listen to: Salt, Fog Banks, Trollabudin