WARDRUNA release new single & video for 'Hibjørnen'
'Birna' out on Friday January 24, 2025 via Columbia Records
29-10-2024
On Friday January 24th 2025 Nordic/dark folk/ambient band Wardruna (NO) will release their new (sixth) studio album titled ‘Birna’ (Old Norse for “she-bear”) on CD, vinyl and digital via Norse Music (Sony Music). In his tireless dialogue with nature, frontman-composer Einar Selvik has been searching for the voice of the bear, for this king of the forest. The new single video for ‘Hibjørnen’ is now released. The video for “Hibjørnen” was created by Ragnarok Film.
Watch ‘Hibjørnen’ below.
Einar Selvik comments: “The rhythm of the bear embodies the very circle of life: When winter approaches, it goes to sleep in its den – back to the womb; its pulse slowing, its body encapsulated in an intermediate death. Like a lullaby, “Hibjørnen” takes on the perspective of the hibernating bear and its dormant dreams from inside the den. The listener returns from the den of the bear more attuned, aware and contemplative of nature’s wonders, just in time for the freshly sprung buds.”
This cyclical nature of the bear, so embedded both in nature and the worldview of older cultures, drives Einar Selvik’s creative work.
Watch the previously released ‘Himinndotter’ below.
This album track is part of a six-track exploration of the bear. The title plays with the globally accepted idea of the mythical origins of the bear as a heavenly being. ‘Himinndotter’ features a guest appearance by the Norwegian choir Koret Artemis. The video was filmed in Rondane National Park in Norway; once again is directed by Wardruna’s long-time collaborator Tuukka Koski; and was produced by Breakfast Helsinki and Ragnarok Film.
DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASE ‘LIVE AT THE ACROPOLIS’ ALSO ON FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2025
Wardruna also announces today that on Friday 24 January 2025 the DVD/Blu-ray ‘Live at the Acropolis’ will be released: a stunning audiovisual recording of Wardruna’s unique equinox performance on 21 September 2023 at the world heritage site Odeon of Herodes Atticus – with the iconic Acropolis in Athens as a backdrop. The concert is the culmination of an intense period of a worldwide tour that concluded the ‘Kvitravn’ cycle in a remarkable way. The show lasts over two hours and features excellent live performances of songs from Wardruna’s entire oeuvre; with the full show, additional interviews, and the meet and greet at the Underflow Record Store in Athens, where hundreds of fans showed up the day after the show.
Tracklist:
- Kvitravn
- Skugge
- Solringen
- Heimta Thurs
- Kvit Hjort
- Raido
- Lyfjaberg
- Voluspá
- Tyr
- Isa
- Grá
- Runaljod
- Rotlaust Tre Fell
- Fehu
- Helvegen
- Snake Pit Poetry
WARDRUNA LIVE BENELUX 2024/2025
Tuesday 19 November: Cirque Royal, Brussels (BE) – SOLD OUT!
Saturday 23 November: TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (NL) – almost sold out
Sunday 24 November: TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (NL) – SOLD OUT!
More Benelux shows for 2025 will be announced soon.
The new album ‘Birna’ was written and recorded between 2021 and 2024, and is the follow-up to the band’s previous studio album ‘Kvitravn’ released in January 2021.
Selvik: “‘Birna’ functions as a quest and a calling for our lost sister of the forest. It is an ode to – and a hymn of praise for – the she-bear. A musical artwork dedicated to this guardian of the forest, the caretaker of nature and her battles here on earth. Driven out of her habitat by modern societies, she has entered a stage of permanent hibernation. As a result, the forest is gradually dying, longing for its pulse and heart – for its shepherd. ‘Birna’ calls for her return.”
Tracklist:
- Hertan
- Birna
- Ljos til Jord
- Dvaledraumar
- Jord til Ljos
- Himinndotter
- Hibjørnen
- Skuggehesten
- Tretale
- Lyfjaberg (released July 8th 2020)
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