Ane Brun’s fourth studio album It All Starts With One was released earlier this month to widespread acclaim and praise; a gloriously emotive and compelling affair that ensures her talents as a musician will be further known upon these shores.

On her recent tour of the UK I had the chance to meet Ane, but due to an illness I could not. My father kindly stepped in to meet the Norwegian singer instead; assuring me she was affable and charming, happily answering the questions put to her by FFS.

For Folk’s Sake: Hi Ane, it’s nice to meet you. How’s the tour going?

Ane Brun: It’s going well. I’ve just got a cough though.

FFS: Will that affect the singing?

A: I don’t think it will but it is irritating.

FFS: And how are you finding London?

A: I like being here. I’ve been here two days but I think it is stressful for a longer amount of time.

FFS: With your music I understand you have collaborated with many artists over the years, and I was interested to see that you have been working with First Aid Kit.

A: Yeah. They have been around for quite a few years now as well, in Sweden.

FFS: And where do you call home, Norway, Sweden?

A: Stockholm.

FFS: But you were born in Norway?

A: In Molde, yeah.

FFS: I was looking at the scenery and the mountainous backdrops recently, do you miss it all?

A: I miss having nature there, of course. I don’t miss the small towns though, as I like living in a big city.

FFS: I understand you moved around a lot when you were younger. In Barcelona, you were studying law and Spanish. What made you decide on music in the end?

A: It just happened. It choose me, I think more than I choose it. I was playing more and more and more and it took over.

FFS: I know you have had success back home. Are you trying to broaden your success? You have recently been on tour with Peter Gabriel in America, are you well-received when you travel?

A: Yeah, absolutely. You always try and broaden your success because it’s your livelihood, right.

FFS: Yeah. And your new album, would you say it’s a change in direction?

A: Yeah, it is. It doesn’t feel so dramatic to me because it has been a few years since I did my last album. And I’ve been and done a lot of stuff so it sounds like hearing something else.

FFS: The first single from the album, (‘Do You Remember’) is quite upbeat, was that an obvious first choice as a single, do you think?

A: I wanted it to be a summer song, so it was released in summer first.

FFS: Eye-catching video too.

A: Yes (laughs).

FFS: I understand there is a short film as well?

A: Yes, It’s coming out next year. It’s the next part/chapter. The one you have seen already is chapter three and chapter four is coming out. The song is worship. So the whole film is four songs.

FFS: Who are your musical influences from the past? Did you grow up with music in your family?

A: Yeah, I grew up with my mum who is a musician and a teacher.

FFS: What sort of music do you listen to?

A: I’ve listened to everything throughout my life, classical, jazz, folk – anything.

FFS: Any musicians that influence you now or albums that you may have listened to recently that appeal to you?

A: I think I listen to all kinds of stuff but I don’t get directly influenced by them. It is very indirect I guess. I listen to mostly varied stuff. I think I am more in touch with me and my stuff so I don’t know. But I listen to music every day, all different kinds.

FFS: And how do you relax away from music? Any hobbies you have or is your music all engulfing?

A: Mostly when I come home I try to keep my relationships going with my friends and family. I suppose just being social. I try to read – I read every day. The last two or three years I have been quite active doing political stuff and stuff to do with the environment, because that’s worrying me.

FFS: I understand you did a concert concerning climate change (No More Lullabies).

A: Yep. I’ve done that and I will do that more.

FFS: And one of the songs from the album, ‘One’ highlights the Arab Spring.

A: Yeah, it’s a song about any initiative actually. It was inspired by the Arab Spring but it is actually about human initiative as a whole.

FFS: Do you feel politically motivated that way? Or have you always been more political?

A: It has happened over the last three or four years.

FFS: Has it? Well that is probably a worldwide thing with a lot of young people; with all that is going on it’s bound to happen. What’s next after the tour?

A: Home. For a rest.

Words: Adam Lowe (and his Dad)

You might also be interested in...

• Live | Ane Brun @ Manchester Deaf Institute, 8th November 2011
• Album | Ane Brun - It All Starts With One
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Weaving through the captivated crowd en route to a suitable vantage point, her spectacular voice, soft but sharp like a flute, hits me and draws me in. I congratulate myself on a well selected ‘at random’ gig.

A week ago, I knew not of Ane Brun and her mesmerising tones. Every so often, I like to see someone I have never before encountered.  Unlike making your acquaintance with a musician via an album or a video, a gig binds the listener and the performer together in a collective experience. This love is reciprocal.

Illuminated in a hazy triangle of light and surrounded by a generously equipped band, she powerfully but calmly lays out the first verse of ‘The Puzzle’:  “I Walked in to love / I walked into a minefield I never heard of”.  The hushed beginning is soon met by a paradoxically staccato, more up tempo chorus – expressing, through both lyrics and the music, the chaos of heartbreak (“Her remains were spread out like the pieces of a puzzle/ it took her 365 days putting them together”).

Perhaps the band are attempting to break a world record for most instruments on stage at one time, or perhaps they are trying to find the one instrument that Ane cannot mimic with her voice. Either way, I am very excited by the arrival of an accordion, not to mention how well it fits with the flute, cello, keyboards (two of) , drums and sweet backing vocals.

Yomping into the liveliest portion of the gig, the percussion takes over from the more feminine harmonies of earlier offerings and Ane gets her best dance moves out for us. Dressed in exceptionally wide trousers and an equally extravagant shirt, there is quite a lot of fabric to be flounced around here. She looks well cool.

Symbols crash like a stormy sea and the sounds from the tempestuous ‘This Voice’, met with a few puffs of the smoke machine, propel us into an all together moodier moment. A few minor chords and the dink of the triangle give me a spooky chill (for this week a full moon is due, you know).

Ending (for the first time at least) with a descent into something akin to a samba, the band exchange their instruments for drum sticks and turn the volume up on the rhythmic drumming. The floor shakes beneath me.

Encores ensue – but one would expect no less from the woman who had too many songs to put on to the new album, and so made an entire B side record dedicated to the “the ones that didn’t quite make it”.

This very intimate gig, which sees her touring her new album, It All Starts With One for the first time in the UK, has commanded quite a crowd.  Those who caught this tour will surely agree, we were lucky to experience Ane whilst she remains in the ‘small & intimate’ category. I don’t think she will be there for much longer…..

Nathalie Depledge

You might also be interested in...

• Interview | Ane Brun
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Despite putting out five studio albums, working with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Ron Sexsmith and receiving two Norwegian Grammys, Ane Brun (real name Ane Brunvoll) has flown under the UK radar for some time. This might all be about to change with It All Starts With One, a multi-layered, evocative master-work of heart-wrenching gorgeousness.

The beauty of the album lies in its ambiguity and refusal to categorise life experiences into such banal binaries as ‘good ‘ and ‘bad’. This is apparent from the first track, ‘These Days’, which could be about the maturation of love, or the tragedy of passion gone stale – “You spelled your name in charcoal all over my body/But these days, I just walk with you”.

Equally compelling is that this is not a straightforward folk album. On ‘Worship’, Brun warbles like an American country and blues singer from the 1930s, while ‘Do You Remember’ is driven by a tribal drum beat and backing chorus. With her rich, unique vocal soaring and echoing over the top, Brun has produced a rather unlikely folk/tribal fusion. Meanwhile, ‘One’ has all the theatricality of a classic musical number, all ironic strings, dramatic cymbals, cheeky Spanish interlude and a jaunty yet somehow menacing music-hall piano riff.

It All Stars With One achieves the impressive feat of appearing highly complex and incredibly simple at the same time. Brun frequently references the orchestral touches, emotive piano and vocal flourishes of Tori Amos, particularly on ‘What’s Happening with You and Him’, but the most dramatic moments are to be found in the quiet parts, such as in ‘Light From One’, with its particularly Amos-esque piano refrain coupled with some jazz-by-night muted cymbals.

Given the musical accomplishment of this album and the depth and breadth of Brun’s body of work, it really is remarkable that she isn’t better known over here. It’s about time the UK woke up and worshipped this Norwegian queen.

Words: Theresa Heath

You might also be interested in...

• Interview | Ane Brun
• Live | Ane Brun @ Manchester Deaf Institute, 8th November 2011
• Brian's Mixtape #22: Made by Maids

A Snowy Owl on Brian’s roost recently complained that she only listened to music made by boys. And as much as Brian – and the rest of us at FFS for that matter – love our bearded folkies, there’s a-whole-nother gender out there that ought not be left out, despite its lack of chin fluff.

Brian was all set to start making Snowy this mixtape of female artists and female-fronted bands when he thought ‘hang on one acorn-scoffing minute!’ You see, Brian realised that his pals at Wears the Trousers magazine are infinitely better qualified to recommend the best in estrogen-rich music, specialising in it as they do.

So from the ears of WTT’s editor Alan Pedder comes this wonderful playlist: some old, some new, all beautiful.

1. Matteah Baim – Bird Of Prey
2. Ane Brun – The Puzzle
3. Haunted Stereo – Cross The Sea
4. White Hinterland – Lindberghs + Metal Birds
5. Larkin Grimm – Dominican Rum
6. Mia Doi Todd – Muscle, Bone & Blood
7. Anja Garbarek – Beyond My Control
8. Laura Barrett – Robot Ponies
9. Lisa Mitchell – Oh What a Beautiful Morning
10. Diane Cluck – Dilapidalliance
11. Jessica Grace – Fybo
12. Piney Gir – 199 To Elephant And Castle
13. Pepi Ginsberg – Beautiful Star

Listen on Spotify: Brian’s Mixtape #22: Made by Maids

Wears The Trousers have put together a rather lovely compilation in tribute to the great  singer and songwriter Odetta, featuring performances from Marissa Nadler, Kelli Ali and Ane Brun. Listen on Spotify or buy it from iTunes.

If you’ve not got yourself registered on Spotify have a look at their website to learn more. And, if you need an invite (so you can use Spotify for free) let uncle Brian know in the comments section below and he will bestow one on you.

Have a flap around our mixtape section to find Brian’s previous efforts.

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• Interview | Ane Brun
• Live | Ane Brun @ Manchester Deaf Institute, 8th November 2011
• Album | Ane Brun - It All Starts With One
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• Why I love Joni Mitchell: Diane Cluck, Louis Gilbert, Ciara McPolin, Katie Carroll, FFS’s dad
• The Folk Artist Twitter Directory
• Diane Cluck and Anders Griffen announce new UK shows
• The Bundles: the ultimate Antifolk team tour the UK
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