Swedish-Icelandic Artist Freyr Announces Debut Album ‘Nicotine Bunker’ Out May 28 + Shares Title Track
February 19, 2021 BY Nettwerk
“Freyr’s delivery has the intimacy of Sufjan Stevens and Sigur Ros, which in itself is enough to take your breath away… one of those voices that sets your soul at ease” – The Revue
“a folk song that taps into a majestic feeling, full of beautiful vocal moments and atmospheric tenderness that you just can’t fake.” – We All Want Someone To Shout For
“Equal parts storyteller and sonic alchemist, Freyr creates music that taps into the universal fragility of human existence.” – ChillFiltr
“the beat of a trip-hop song, the instrumental of an experimental indie track, and the melody and vocals of a great pop-folk song.” – Where The Music Meets on “Avalon”
For his 2021 debut album Nicotine Bunker, Swedish-Icelandic singer and songwriter Freyr traveled to the Pacific Northwest for the very first time, where a world of creative possibilities unexpectedly opened up. He had no choice but to siphon all of the region’s wonder into his music. On Nicotine Bunker, he imbues the sights, sounds, and feelings of this journey into eight tracks. The album is set for release on May 28th via Nettwerk, and today he shares the title track with an accompanying video below. “Nicotine Bunker” is available on all digital retailers HERE.
Freyr explains the inspiration behind the song: “A nicotine bunker is a place where hippies come together to listen to music, smoke, and relax. The song is about someone proper, who finds himself quite randomly in a nicotine bunker. Surprisingly, despite his prejudice, he finds himself enamored with the host. As a songwriter, I’ve found myself among spiritual people quite often, especially while travelling with my guitar. Although I don’t smoke or read tarot cards – I’ve been warmly welcomed to play my music for them.” He adds, “For the video, we thought a campervan would be a great metaphor for such a location. Especially when it is placed somewhere in the countryside where it is peaceful.”
The story of Freyr springs from a true journey as magnificent, magnetic, and magical as any myth on the books. In fact, his personal mythos already spans an enriching childhood divided between the deepest forests of Sweden and Icelandic summers, formative years playing everything from jazz and classical to metal and indie, a stint in Stockholm studying philosophy, and first trips across the ocean to record his debut album in North America.
Freyr picked up electric guitar at twelve. He eventually moved into “a music collective” called Lärkträdet (The Larch) in Umeå, among a diverse congregation of jazz purists and rappers. While majoring in philosophy at Stockholm University, he wrote and recorded music, which drew inspiration from his own experiences, as well as artists like Bon Iver and Sigur Rós. He caught the attention of producer Tyler Neil Johnson [Joshua Hyslop, Austin Basham] and cut his first formal single “Over My Head.” Following independent success to the tune of 200K+ streams, he signed to Nettwerk and released the I’m Sorry EP in early 2020.
Pre-save Nicotine Bunker Here
