Update: Geir Jenssen has co-written two of the tracks on “Radiant Green”.

(Photo by Knut Åserud) Good news from Norway as the cult band Bel Canto will release an all new album on April 26th, called “Radiant Green“. “Radiant Green” comes after more than two decades of studio silence since their last album “Dorothy’s Victory” already dates from 2002.

“Radiant Green” will be out digitally and on CD and double vinyl. The material was mixed by Matias Tellez and Gilles Martin. For Martin it means his comeback after having produced the first 3 albums of the band, the last being “Shimmering, Warm & Bright” from 1992. Martin’s production helped establish Bel Canto’s distinctive sound in the early days.

Here’s a first teaser which the band released.

The band also released the cover artwork for the new album.

About Bel Canto

Bel Canto, originally a trio but now a duo, features Anneli Drecker as the lead vocalist and was initially under the Crammed Discs label.

The ensemble originated in Tromsø in 1985, established by Geir Jenssen (handling synthesizers and programming), Nils Johansen (playing synthesizer, violin, bass, and guitar), alongside vocalist Anneli Drecker. Their musical influences span a wide range, including Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), David Bowie, artists from 4AD, Clannad, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, David Sylvian, Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), Ryuichi Sakamoto, Depeche Mode, and the Blue Nile.

In 1986, the trio relocated to Brussels, releasing their debut album, “White-Out Conditions,” through Crammed Discs a year later. Following their second album, “Birds of Passage” (1990), Jenssen departed to pursue a successful solo career as Biosphere, leaving Drecker and Johansen to achieve a commercial breakthrough with “Shimmering, Warm and Bright” in 1992. By this time, their music had transitioned from ethereal dream electropop to a synth-based pop sound enriched with world music elements.

Anneli Drecker occasionally paused her involvement with Bel Canto to focus on solo projects and collaborations with other artists and bands, including Röyksopp and a-ha, in addition to her work in film and theater. Nils Johansen, meanwhile, composed music for film and television and continued his involvement with his other band, Vajas.

In 2010, following a reunion concert in Oslo, Side-Line interviewed the original members, who revealed they were working on a new album, although tensions were apparent. Ultimately, Geir Jenssen left the band once more, and the project was left unfinished.

A previously unreleased track from 1988, “Flowerbeds,” surfaced in 2009 on the Norwegian compilation “Maskindans: Norsk synth 1980–1988,” released by Hommage Records. In 2017, Bel Canto graced the stage at Øyafestivalen in Oslo, delivering a performance that spanned their hits in a set lasting nearly an hour. During an interview, Drecker expressed the band’s enthusiasm for more live performances and the potential for new music.

In June 2022, Anneli Drecker and Nils Johansen shared news of their ongoing work on a forthcoming Bel Canto album.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange, photos by Tarjei Krogh, Tom Helge Kleberg, Jarle Nyttingnes) How do you celebrate a driving force of the Norwegian electronic music scene when he’s about to turn 50? Ask a band if they can perform at his birthday party, that band involving another band, ending up in a full night of concerts by El/NeUe and Beranek and the collaboration release of a new track, video and a 10″ limited edition vinyl in various colours.

Øystein Moe was the lucky man celebrating his 50th anniversary Saturday November 2nd at Mir Lufthavn in Oslo, surrounded by friends and live concerts by El/NeUe and Beranek, who also debuted ‘Niedrige Erwartungen’ by showing the track’s music video.

Espen Beranek Holm, the multi-talented musician, comedian, stage-, radio- and TV-personality, remixer etc., elaborated about the evening and collaboration in our scheduled mail interview the day after.

Side-Line: What was the occasion for this event – how did you get involved?

Beranek: I received a mail from Askild in May where he told me about the 50 years birthday party for Øystein Moe and asked if I could contribute by doing a concert. I know Askild and Håkon (the members of El/NeUe) from years back, but we’ve only worked together in comedy and satire for TV and radio production – never in music. I immediately wanted to be part of this event, both because of my knowledge and friendship with Askild and Håkon, but I also wanted to pay tribute to Øystein Moe who released the double CD ‘Maskindans – Norsk synth 1980-1988’ back in 2009. He was the first to license and release a song digitally from my debut album ‘Sound Of Danger’.
In other words: He’s a great guy!

S-L: How did your collaboration ’Niedrige Erwartungen’ come about? Triggered by this evening, or already in the works before?

Beranek: A part of this celebration also included the making of a limited edition vinyl EP containing some previously unreleased material from both EL/NeUe and me. In the discussion for the vinyl’s content the idea was born that we should collaborate on a track. A Thursday night in August I brought my Akai Force to Askilds house where Askild, Håkon and I sketched out the beginnings and framework for the composition. We very soon hit a common nerve for the thing, and after some 3-4 hours we had the main basics for the song. I spent the following Friday refining, re-structuring and adding to the composition. I also upgraded a lot of the sounds from the digital (Force) domain to the deeper analog domain using hardware synths (Moogs, Korgs, etc). I then sent the tracks to Askild and Håkon, and they added more musical motives and sounds; clarinets, voices and that marvellous and majestic «noisy» solosynth in the end. I got these tracks in return and added a vocal track dub to Askilds voice. Askild and Håkon finalized the mix. The lyrics was a suggestion by Askild.

S-L: Gotten any feedback on ‘Niedrige Erwartungen’ so far?

Beranek: It was very well received as the video was shown on screen to the audience last night!

S-L: Tell more about the video – how did the visuals come about?

Beranek: After I received the mix from Askild and Håkon I listened to it a couple of times – quiet loud actually. During these listenings I started to «see» how these notes and beats could trigger light beams, and I thought that space would form a perfect stage for this. I used a combination of 3D software and video editing software to generate the animations and synchronize it all to the music. Askild and Håkon was very pleased with both the video and the theme for the pictures, and the picture used on both the limited edition vinyl and on streaming platforms is taken from the video. (see the video at the end of article)

S-L: Planned any more collaboration together – songs or performances?

Beranek: We have an open mind about that – it wouldn’t surprise me at all if more music was produced by Beranek and EL/NeUe!

S-L: Your own and others reactions and feedback to the performances?

Beranek: I think it was a great night. EL/NeUe’s set was very well performed and very well received by the audience. Well deserved!
We – Johannes (Winther Farstad – keys and vocals) and I – was very pleased with the venue, Leon on sound and the crowd, and we felt that it all went down really well on our part.

Photograper Tarjei Krogh also attended the concerts, as always taking great photos!

The VERY special 10″ vinyl

We also wanted to know more about these records, and got hold of Tom Helge Kleberg from Kalall TM, a duplicord manufacturing company under the Etch Wear umbrella.

THK: On this production we made them for the two labels PIIV Grill and Hommage Records as a supplier, and we also collaborated on the sleeve production.

This is in short a duplicated record, hence we made the name duplicord. We make a lathe-cut or lacquer reference disc master first, then we make a mould negative used for casting two component resin records. It’s really an old technique with new compounds, like old one sided gramophones. The silicone really copies everything – even the warm sound!

These are to be considered more like artefact records or artist merchandise than an audiophile release. The final result varies from Good+ to NM, but most common VG/VG+. The research to make them better continues with every edition…

So far we have casted about 15 copies, all in various colours. It’s easy to mix different pigments for each duplicord, so most often no one is exactly the same, giving a wide range of colours and sometimes playing around with two or more colours. For special editions we have also put various objects in the mix on the label area, giving totally one of a kind unique duplicords unlike any vinyl you have seen.

All runs have sold out since we started doing these, so they’re really a token for a fan – these sell out first on merchtables!

Check out the track at several streaming platforms, and see the video right here!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

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Two weeks ago we informed you that the Norwegian electropop / dark pop act Bel Canto had left a rather cryptic message on their Facebook page hinting that the band had finally finished the recordings of the follow-up of the 2002 album “Dorothy’s Victory”.

Today the band posted the following update: “Yes yes, good zoOOom meeting with prominent producer. TBC!😄#newbelcantoalbum #muminbusiness #MusiqueNonStop” In short they are indeed recording a new album and are working with a yet unnamed ‘prominent’ producer. You can see the Facebook update below.

Good news, as Bel Canto is one of those bands from which we have wanted to hear new work for years,

A new album that has taken years

In March 2007 Side-Line reported that Bel Canto would start work on a new album. This was based on an interview we had with all three original members in Oslo. But this first resurrection was aborted and Geir Jenssen left the band again. The only ‘new’ material would be released in 2009 on the double album package “Maskindans: Norsk synth 1980–1988” that was released on Hommage Records. It holds the previously unheard Bel Canto song, “Flowerbeds”, which dates from 1988.

Bel Canto was formed in 1985 in Tromsø by Geir Jenssen (synthesizer, programming), Nils Johansen (synthesizer, violin, bass guitar, guitar) and vocalist Anneli Drecker. The group was one of the first Norwegian bands to sign a record contract abroad, namely to the Belgian label Crammed Discs. The trio moved to Brussels in 1986 and had their debut album “White-Out Conditions” released by Crammed Discs the following year.

After a second album, “Birds of Passage” (1990), Jenssen left the band for a succesful solo career as Biosphere. The group had a commercial breakthrough with “Shimmering, Warm and Bright” in 1992 which held a lot of ethnic ingredients fluently mixed with their dark electropop sound.

A few more albums followed: “Magic Box” (1996), “Rush” (French release titled “Images”) (1998), and “Dorothy’s Victory” (2002). In between these albums both Nils Johansen and Anneli Drecker worked on solo material.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

The Norwegian electropop / dark pop act Bel Canto has left a rather cryptic message on their Facebook page saying just this: “Ahh summer! Feeling inspired and ready to work, the polar sun gives us enery, esp 3 in the morning! Great things in the making so stay tuned. #gettingthere #belcantotheband”

You would of course think – and especially hope – that the band has finally finished the recordings of the follow-up of the 2002 album “Dorothy’s Victory”.

In March 2007 Side-Line reported that Bel Canto would start work on a new album. This was based on an interview we had with all three original members in Oslo. But this first resurrection was aborted and Geir Jenssen left the band again. The only ‘new’ material would be released in 2009 on the double album package “Maskindans: Norsk synth 1980–1988” that was released on Hommage Records. It holds the previously unheard Bel Canto song, “Flowerbeds”, which dates from 1988.

Bel Canto was formed in 1985 in Tromsø by Geir Jenssen (synthesizer, programming), Nils Johansen (synthesizer, violin, bass guitar, guitar) and vocalist Anneli Drecker. The group was one of the first Norwegian bands to sign a record contract abroad, namely to the Belgian label Crammed Discs. The trio moved to Brussels in 1986 and had their debut album “White-Out Conditions” released by Crammed Discs the following year.

After a second album, “Birds of Passage” (1990), Jenssen left the band for a succesful solo career as Biosphere. The group had a commercial breakthrough with “Shimmering, Warm and Bright” in 1992 which held a lot of ethnic ingredients fluently mixed with their dark electropop sound.

A few more albums followed: “Magic Box” (1996), “Rush” (French release titled “Images”) (1998), and “Dorothy’s Victory” (2002). In between these albums both Nils Johansen and Anneli Drecker worked on solo material.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Kampenkontor press release) EL/NeUe from Norway released their album ‘KRANK’ June 1^st on CD and digital platforms – their first physical release in 34 years! 11 songs in various styles, yet all still typically EL/NeUe: A powerful sound of picturesque, magical guitars (often performed with bow), swirling synths, deep, laid-back vocals and an old, battered Roland SH 2000, and a very liberal use of upper- and lowercase letters in their song titles.

EL/NeUe are Askild Hagen (vocals, synth, bass) og Håkon Johnson (guitars, bass, synth), with invaluable help from ELLADY (Liv Anna Hagen), contributing vocals on two songs – the dreamy ‘Prosopagnosia’ and the darkly beautiful ‘Når er det på tide’. The guys also both work as writers for the Norwegian comedy show ‘Nytt På Nytt’ (Norwegian version of ‘Have I got news for you’), and have created many musical comedy projects, notably the legendary Oslo International Playback Free Jazz Festival.

‘KRANK’, the CD, is the first physical release by EL/NeUe in 34 years, but they have contributed on several releases through the years. It all started with the classic ‘Et hvilested’ 7″ EP in 1987 (while the band were just called EL …). EL contributed to several cassette compilations in the Eighties, and performed a few, memorable concerts before disbanding in 1988.

2009 saw the release of the compilation CD ‘MASKINDANS’, with Norwegian electronic music of the 80’s, where EL’s ‘Visshet’ was included. Five years later, in 2014 Spain’s Domestica Records put out their «Domestic Landscape» compilation, featuring a track from EL’s ‘Demo 85’ cassette; the darkly poetic ‘Og Tilslutt’.
In 2020, EL returned as EL/NeUe, releasing the EP ‘LYKKeØNSKNINGeR 2020’ and several singles via streaming services (see their Spotify artist page).

‘KRANK’ contains 11 songs, somewhere between 80’s new wave/cold wave and modern electronic alternative music. At times, it may sound like Rammstein meets Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, elsewhere it may envoke the feeling of Ulver growing up in 1987.

Listen to the album at Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, deezer or Tidal!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange