Hyundai Nordic Music Prize 2021
Hyundai Nordic Music Prize is an annual award for the Best Nordic Album Of The Year. Inspired by the British & Irish Mercury Prize, the prize was introduced in 2010, and initiated by the by:Larm Conference.
In setting up Hyundai Nordic Music Prize, by:Larm has several aims: first, to create even stronger unity across the Nordic regions industry, second, to further increase international interest and awareness of what the region has to offer musically, and, last but not least, to refocus on the full-length album as an art form. The winner will receive a cash prize of 10 000 euros.
Previous winners have included Jónsi, Goran Kafjes, First Aid Kit, The Knife, Mirel Wagner, Band of Gold, Jenny Hval, Susanne Sundfør and Robyn.
The Nordic jury, comprising Birgitte Mandelid (NO), Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (IS), Ilkka Mattila (FI), Annah Björk (SE) og Anna Ullman (DK), collectively prepared a shortlist of 12 nominees for this year’s Hyundai Nordic Music Prize. The international jury – consisting of Jeanette Lee (Rough Trade), Jude Rogers (The Guardian), Eric Deines (Jagjaguwar) and Stuart Maconie (BBC) will decide which one ends up as this year’s winner.
The Nordic Jury Statement
"The last time we picked a winner of the Hyundai Nordic Music Prize - back in March 2020 - we had no idea the imminent Covid crisis was about to take its toll. At last we’re back to award the latest prize, celebrating a Nordic music landscape that’s still thriving with exciting acts and albums. As before, the process of selecting a shortlist from each country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) was a thrilling experience. Cutting the long list of 25 albums down to the short list of 12 was a challenge, but the Nordic jury believes it has arrived at a solid list that fully represents the breadth, range and diversity of the Nordic region's musical output. This year’s nominees are not dominated by big names, but include influential, groundbreaking and inventive artists who all shine within their respective genres."
This years nominees with descriptions from the jury:
Bára Gísladóttir/Skúli Sverrisson (IS) - Caeli
A brilliant collaboration between Iceland's most adventurous composer at the moment and an avant-garde colossus. Bára Gísladóttir has been releasing ever more challenging works of late, where modern composition, noise and unforgiving experimentation come together in a beautiful, if brutal, harmony. Skúli Sverrison, a fixture in the international avant-garde scene meets her here halfway through, adding his subtle, melodic and all-encompassing touch. The results are simply thrilling and breathtaking.
Ingibjörg Turchi (IS) - Meliae
Earning her dues with wide ranging session work, Ingibjörg Turchi finally stepped forward with this amazing album. With assistance from the young breed of Icelandic avant-garde jazz, Turchi manages to generate a quite original blend of modern jazz, improv, minimalism and melodic flourish. The experiments never drown out Turchi's gift for song structure and the aforementioned styles are expertly woven together on this remarkable debut.
Klara Keller (SE) - Hjärtansfröjd EP
Klara Keller is Sweden's brightest shining future star in the Swedish alternative pop sky. Alternative, because the kind of indie pop she does today is far too difficult to fencing with Swedish hip hop or the more streaming-adapted pop music. She has collaborated with synth duo KITE and made a duet with Håkan Hellström. 24 year old Klara Keller has written and produced her debut mini album "Hjärtans fröjd" together with Jocke Åhlund (Teddybears STHLM, and producer of the most recent album from Håkan Hellström).
The lyrics are poetic and revolve around the pain of the classical heart, but also old hymns and folk songs we grew up with.
Ane Brun (SE) - After the great storm
Norwegian-born but since many years Sweden-resident Ane Brun used the hard corona quarantine to be productive. Low-key, but big and beautiful, she tackles themes such as grief and loss, with a rare musicality and lightness. On the album she also opens up for some new styles of music, she’s not completely stuck in the americana/ singer/songwriter-style she once enchanted us with. The songs were written in Norway and recorded in Sweden! How Nordic is that?
Lau Nau (FI) - Själö – Original Soundtrack with Sound Environments By Janne Laine
Lau Nau (Laura Naukkarinen) is a singer, songwriter and producer who has released several albums of alternative and experimental music, many of them on Fonal label. Själö is soundtrack for a documentary film by the same name.
Själö (or Seili in Finnish) is an island off the southwestern coast of Finland. Since early 17th century and up to 1960’s there was a hospital where people where sentto be isolated due to physical or mental illness. From 1889 to 1962 it was only for female patients. Many of them died on Själö. Now the beautiful island is an echological resort.
Oranssi Pazuzu (FI) - Mestarin kynsi
While the Finnish metal scene may be past its 00’s glory days Oranssi Pazuzu remains an important and innovative group operating somewhere far away from traditional arena metal home grounds. Mestarin kynsi is their first album released on Nuclear Blast label. Instead of composing catchy and nostalgic metal tunes in order to broaden their audience they have dived even deeper to their own pool of psychedelia, noise and remains of black metal.
girl in red (NO) - if i could make it go quiet
Marie Ulven (girl in red) is probably, alongside Sigrid, Norway's biggest export success in the last couple of years. Her first full-length backs up the hype and makes the leap from the bedroom to the arena, with production to match. This is a fun album, and above all extremely catchy.
Nekromantheon (NO) - The Visions of Trismegistos
Thrash metal at its best! 33 minutes of brilliant sonic brutality. Nekromantheon are masters of their craft and manage to make unexpected musical turns, tempo changes and high-level musicianship sound primal and raw. Not a riff or a solo sound out of place here.
Musti (NO) - Qoyskayga
Speaking of short, Musti's debut Qoyskayga («my family» in Somali) establishes her as the new voice and face of Norwegian rap in only 24 minutes. Just like girl in red, 19-year-old Ugbad «Musti» Mustafa delivers on the expectations placed on her by fans, press and the music industry. Qoyskayga is a great snapshot of where Musti was at in 2020; hungry, confident, and going places. Fun fact: Musti has supported Swedish nominee Cherrie on tour.
Clarissa Connelly (DK) - The Voyager
Scottish-Danish composer and multi-instrumentalist has made a name for herself with her highly idiosyncratic investigations into Celtic mythology and experimental synth pop. “The Voyager”, which is her second album, shows her labyrinthine and poetic yet easily recognizable pop compositions gradually revealing slightly eerie shifts in time and space. The album was released along with an interactive app for wanderers, “Vandringen” which artistically interprets the monolithic burial mounds and other remains of ancient memory which perforate the heavily agro-industrialized landscape of rural Denmark.
ML Buch (DK) - Skinned
The debut album from composer and multi-instrumentalist Marie Louise Buch came out after a string of great ep’s exploring the interface between the familiar and the futuristic. Exploring the hyper-real experiences of digital life, you can tell she is part of the same electro-experimental community which has spawned interesting names such as Astrid Sonne, Panxing, Xenia Xamanek, and others. Stylistically navigating between solid, hyper-intimate classic songwriting, poetic vocal arrangements, and weirdly emotionally detached glitchy abstraction, ML Buch has found a vibe and a voice of her own.
Baby in Vain (DK) - See Through
This trio rose to national fame 10 years ago as a teenage stoner rock sensation and gained a lot of respect for their carefree and hard-rocking attitude. Now immensely matured as a band, they return for their second album as an extremely coherent band with great tunes, great production, and confident songwriting. Drowsy, laid-back yet energetic indie rock, just the way it should be.
Hyundai Nordic Music Prize 2021 will take place during by:Larm at Dansens Hus, Thursday September 30th, 5pm
