You can always count on the Faroe Islands to come up with something new and different, whether it’s the likes of Eivør, or Brimheim, or any of the many other artists we’ve featured from those small, windswept islands.
This time it’s the turn of Faroese singer-songwriter Dania O. Tausen who has released a new single ‘at siga ja er ne’i (‘saying yes means no)’. Funny, I always thought no meant no, didn’t I dear? Perhaps things work differently in the Faroes.
It is the second single taken from her forthcoming double 13-track album ‘ja/nei og restin av vikuni’ (‘yes/no – and the rest of the week’), which will be released in two parts, on July 21st (‘ja’) and October 12th (‘nei’), via Faroese label Tutl Records.
The album’s subject matter is somewhat on the deep side as it dives into the “ordinary” (shopping, working, travelling) and then researching how that can lead onto bigger subjects such as absurd reality, electronics in nature (not sure what that is), unconsciousness (I know all about that), toxicity, and making the right choices.
In an effort to clarify matters the album is divided into two halves: the ‘yes-side’ and the ‘no-side’ while ‘The rest of the week’ is a way of saying that there are many grey areas in between.
Well that clears that up, then. It sounds like a collaboration of Arcade Fire and Weyes Blood.
To keep things plain and simple the song juxtaposes the merits of what is a very flexible, fluid voice, (backed ably by a male one of unknown origin) and an experimental musical approach which channels everything from 1980s New Wave/psych to Middle Eastern sounds to shamanic chants to primeval percussion.
It’s the sort of thing the Faroe Islands Tourist Board should use in its advertising. A handful of images of the country, together with this playing in the background. Job done. Annual tourist quota met early.
Incidentally, she’s a poet, too. Check out her website.
If you just happen to have been ‘called’ to the Faroes already and you just happen to be there, she’s playing the G Festival this weekend.
Find her on:
Website: https://www.daniaotausen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniaotausen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniaaa1ooo/
