Swedish-Icelandic Artist FREYR Releases Debut Album ‘Nicotine Bunker’
May 28, 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 album’s title track is another mellow masterpiece.”
– The Revue
“Yet another reason to believe that [Freyr] is one of the best young voices on the folk music scene…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
“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. Altogether, Freyr presents a unique style yet it all sounds quite familiar.”
– Where The Music Meets (“Avalon”)
Today, Freyr releases his debut full-length album Nicotine Bunker. For its recording, the Icelandic-Swedish singer/songwriter 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. he imbues the sights, sounds and feelings of his journey into eight beautiful tracks. Listen to the album HERE.
Freyr celebrates the album’s release with an official video for the song “Modern Ages.” Hey says, “Private concerts in the wild are a rare experience. Unofficial, invitations only and intimate. The video is jokingly encouraging people to drop their urban lives once in a while and get some fresh air.”
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.
Nicotine Bunker track listing:
1. Avalon
2. Surveilling Sky
3. Nicotine Bunker
4. Permission to Lose
5. American Poster
6. You Want Love
7. Modern Ages
8. Departure
