Through his restless dialogue with nature, main composer Einar Selvik has been searching for the voice of the bear, and from the deep woods emerges Birna, Wardruna’s sixth opus. Birna – the she-bear in Old Norse – is a work of art dedicated to the guardian of the forest, nature’s caretaker, and her battles here on earth. Slowly driven out of her habitat by modern day societies, she has entered a stage of permanent hibernation. As a result, the forest is gradually dying, longing for its pulse and heart – its shepherd. Birna calls for her return. “Where the previous album Kvitravn was a step conceptually from the past to the present, Birna even more so seeks to address the here and now and the way forward,” states composer Einar Selvik.
Alongside the announcement comes a new single and music video for “Himinndotter”, a song that constitutes a search and a calling for our lost sister of the woods – you can watch the music video below this article. On the single, Einar Selvik states, “Himinndotter (Sky-daughter) is part of a six-song exploration of the bear on Wardruna’s upcoming album Birna (She-bear). The title plays on the globally common notion of the bears mythical origin as a celestial being. Himinndotter features a guest appearance of the Norwegian choir Koret Artemis”. The video for “Himinndotter” was filmed in Rondane National Park in Norway and was once again directed by Wardruna’s longtime collaborator Tuukka Koski, and produced by Breakfast Helsinki and Ragnarok Film. On the record, Einar Selvik explains, “For a long time, I knew the main theme and framework of this album but finding its voice and words was in many ways my main challenge. The more I thought, read, and researched, the more I realised that this album should mainly have contemporary focus. Unraveling the long and entangled history of the relationship between man and Bear and contemplating the present state of how we humans relate to the wild in general”.
Birna will be released on January 24th via ByNorse Music. Pre-orders are now available here.
Photo credit: Morten Munthe
