Silje Nergaard – Chain Of Days

Silje_chainI met Norwegian singer Silje Nergaard earlier today at the Sony HQ in Mitte where all the huge construction work won’t come to an end, so it seems. Silje has just released her new album “Chain Of Days” (her fifteenth!) and was delighted to talk about it. It’s a very intimate and quiet record with lots of little surprises.

“We all live in a chain of days” is what she told me about the title of the record, “it’s about the moment of truth when the chain will break”. The phrase is taken from the deep and austere “The Leaving” which, like almost all of the tracks here, has the lyric writing of Mike McGurk with whom she has worked for many years now. “He’s like the glove of my hand. He visits my head…His lyrics are of a high quality and I think that’s one of the reasons why my music is also well-known internationally.” In fact, she has a very strong following over here in Germany, but also in a lot of other parts of Europe and the world.

Silje recorded the album live with her top-notch musicians and decided not to use any headphones for the recording:

 

Kurt Elling managed to make the song very subtle and intimate” is what she said about her collaboration with the singer on the track “The Dance Floor”, a song she describes as very feminine. There is just one cover song here on the album and this time around it’s by fellow Norwegian group A-Ha and their “Hunting High And Low”. She thinks that it is one of the most beautiful pop songs she knows and it features a great trumpet by Arve Henriksen.

On the album, Silje finds the perfect combination between some lighter sounds and moods (like on the breezy “Come Walk Around” or the funny and at the same time tragic “Lady Charlotte”) and more serious and sad songs (“A Crying Shame”). The opening track “Buckle Her Shoe” actually reminds me of one of the songs from an early Lizz Wright album. And she gets a bit bluesy on her warning “Two For The Road”.

Silje Nergaard "Chain Of Days"Only one track is sung in her native Norwegian, a stunning and very lyrical “Morgenstemning” which was arranged by the great Vince Mendoza. It’s an amazing piece which leaves a lasting impression. And the desire to hear a full album from Silje sung in the Norwegian language.

She starts her tour on April 13th in Bonn (see events).

 

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