Sylvaine: Eg Er Framand (2024, Season Of Mist)

There are few things as beautiful as the combination of the honeyed voice of Kathrine Shepard, Sylvaine‘s architect and alma mater, and the ambient folk that surrounds the majesty of her profound compositions. Four studio albums support his musical proposal that has been moving the public that has embraced his melancholic and at the same time bucolic project that manages to encapsulate serenity and chaos in its particular atmosphere in a perfectly balanced way since its formation in 2013.

Sylvaine is a project far from conventional folk that avoids all possible labels to offer something truly unique and unmatched, a musical journey through the senses that somehow combines human experiences with the spiritual origins of our being, entering into terrains dark and at the same time full of light with which we can navigate through our emotions in a very particular way. Each one can be the protagonist of their own story thanks to Kathrine Shepard‘s compositions in what some have classified as post-metal but which I myself would classify as music made from the heart for the hearts of others.

Eg Er Framand is not a release to listen to at all times, it is an EP made up of six songs that transport you to ethereal and heavenly places far from the earthly pleasures offered by the rest of the more conventional bands of the genre. Sylvaine manages to bring together all the elements of her previous albums to give us an intimate and very personal work where beautiful compositions like Arvestykker or Tusmørke shine like the light of Eärendil, and Kathrine Shepard‘s music is something that manages to transport me to the confines of the Middle Earth even sharing a certain resemblance to the character of Galadriel who gives her flask of celestial light to Frodo and that in a way is just what Sylvaine does with the music she gives us to shed some light on our gloomy lives when we most need it.

The sad passages that we find in Dagsens Auga Sloknar Ut take us into the vast world of Sylvaine populated by all kinds of nature where spirits of ancient forests forgotten creatures wander through time that never seems to end. Part of Sylvaine‘s career has been based on Norwegian folklore where fantasy and reality converge at the same point, resulting in dreamlike landscapes in an introspective journey that gives us beautiful and majestic compositions such as Livets Dans or the song that closes the own album, Eg Er Framand, leaving us wanting more once this brief and intense journey through the most ancient Norwegian tradition has ended.

Kathrine Shepard‘s voice continues to resonate within us as the last bars of Eg Er Framand come to an end, never to leave us again. We can find few things as beautiful in this life as Kathrine Shepard‘s voice when she sings the final verses of the aforementioned song “A path to take, the choice to make to lead her on her way. A story about to begin of a soul ignited again on a road to turn loose dismay?“

Tracklist:

Dagsens Auga Sloknar Ut (4:36)
Arvestykker (4:36)
Eg Veit I Himmelrik Ei Borg (4:47)
Livets Dans (6:09)
Tussmørke (3:15)
Eg Er Framand (4:46)

More about Sylvaine

Kathrine Shepard, the visionary artist behind the evocative musical project Sylvaine, weaves an intricate tapestry of emotions through the language of music. A transcendental bridge between worlds, a mesmerizing duality that encapsulates the beautiful and the harsh, light and darkness, serenity and chaos, and the delicate balance between the external world and the inner sanctum of the soul. It is a symphony that harmonizes the human experience with its spiritual origins – a resonance of something beyond the tangible.

Sylvaine‘s compositions are a visceral journey through the vast spectrum of emotions that the complexities of the human experience have to offer. They encapsulate the inherent struggle of being an entity in this world, yet not entirely of it. Katherine‘s music serves as a conduit for her innermost feelings, a cathartic expression of the eternal longing that resides within the very core of her melodies.

Akin to a fairytale spun from the threads of Norwegian folklore, a narrative that resonates with the spirits of ancient woods and the whispers of long forgotten creatures. With every ethereal note and haunting melody, she conjures images of untamed forests, of misty clearings inhabited by mystical beings. In this artistry, there is an undeniable sense of transcendence, where listeners are transported beyond the confines of the ordinary into a dreamscape where reality and fantasy converge. A profound sense of wonder and allure creates a unique musical alchemy – with a touch of enchantment that lingers long after the music has ceased.

Official Website: https://www.sylvainemusic.com/
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sylvaine/455094955
Bandcamp: https://sylvainemusic.bandcamp.com/music
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sylvainemusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sylvainemusic/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5C9ocrDvsfSz8qcxG70QEe
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/SylvaineMusic
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYoMxOgKpnqGrj-impj1wDQ
Last.FM: https://www.last.fm/music/Sylvaine