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Artist: Eydis Evensen
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Eydis Evensen:

The Light

Icelandic pianist and composer, Eydís Evensen will release her much anticipated second album ‘The Light’ on 26th May via XXIM Records.  Following on from her successful 2021 debut ‘Bylur’, which put her firmly on the map as one of neo-classical’s leading artists and which has amassed over 40 million audio streams to date and her subsequent 2022 EP ‘Frost’, ‘The Light’ further expands on this young artist’s scope for talent and expression, presenting her not only as a pianist, arranger and lyricist but also for the first time as a vocalist.  

Evensen cites two underlying themes to the ‘The Light’: it is both a deep reflection on the rough and rugged landscapes of Iceland and how they have shaped her personality, as it is a personal expression of a sense of hope and brighter times following hardship.  Both are represented by the theme of light – the inner light that guides us and the natural light, so rare in the dark Icelandic winters.  Written from personal experience at a time of relief and closure in her own life, Evensen is passing on here a message of both personal and collective hope and resilience to her listeners that better must come.  Having dealt with personal challenges in the very best way she knows how – at the piano, making music, this cathartic experience of intense composition and performance has culminated in ‘The Light’.

Eydis Evensen:

Bylur

Icelandic pianist and post-classical composer EYDÍS EVENSEN has confirmed details of her debut album, BYLUR, which will be released on 23rd April, 2021 by XXIM Records, Sony's new imprint for innovative, post-genre instrumental music. The collection follows the 27-year-old's debut single, ‘Brotin' – the label's first official release, which appeared at the end of January – and features thirteen pieces written throughout her life so far for piano, with additional strings, brass and electronics on a number of tracks. It will be available here as a CD and download, as well as from all streaming platforms.

Described by Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated composer Dustin O'Halloran as "a beautiful debut full of rich and nuanced arrangements", BYLUR,EVENSEN confides, "spans over 20 years of my life. It's all my ups and downs. It's been a long time coming." The album was recorded and produced at Reykjavík's Greenhouse Studios by its co-founder, composer Valgeir Sigurðsson, who was raised in the same small town as EVENSEN and has worked with artists including Björk, Nico Muhly and Ben Frost. It also features a guest appearance from award-winning Icelandic singer GDRN on ‘Midnight Moon', the album's only track with vocals.

EVENSEN,who was recently selected by The Line Of Best Fit as one of their ‘Artists On The Rise 2021',hails from the remote, northern Icelandic town of Blönduós, where, as storms raged outside, she grew up listening to music of all sorts, from Tchaikovsky to Led Zeppelin. Indeed, BYLUR takes its name from the Icelandic word for ‘snowstorm', and the title track is, she says, "quite harsh, but it's also very beautiful, so it takes you through all these different stages of emotion." This is true, too, of the album itself, reflective not only of the impact that nature had upon her as a child but also of the personal turbulence she endured after deciding to leave Iceland. Having been drawn to music from an early age and begun piano studies aged six, she abandoned youthful plans to become a professional pianistand instead moved to London, then New York. "I just didn't want to pursue the typical classical journey," she confesses.