Nordic folk outfit BYRDI has released the video single ‘Huldre‘ as the second track taken from their forthcoming album “Byrjing” (“Beginning”), which is scheduled for release on March 5, 2021, via Trollmusic.

A huldre (English huldra or hulder) is a seductive female nature spirit that is well known across Scandinavia. Mostly seen as benign, this mythical creature is sometimes depicted on the contrary as a vicious and deadly being; particularly in Norwegian folklore. 

Norwegian multiinstrumentalist Kjell Braaten (WARDRUNA stand-in musician, several solo releases) has contributed extra percussion to this song.

BYRDI comment: “We have composed ‘Huldre’ during a warm summer night at our forest studio, sitting around the fire while talking about the ups and downs in life”.
“The theme of this song revolves around finding balance and happiness again when feeling low. After the rain comes sunshine so to speak. ‘Huldre’ opens with a duel between the neverlur birch trumpet and flute. The neverlur represents a human calling out into the storm, while the flute generally symbolizes the sun after the rain and Trygve Ramnefjell’s solo marks the turning point. Last but not least, we would like to thank Kjell Braaten for his amazing percussion on this track.”
  • Photo: (c) Andreas Paulsen

With their third full-length “Byrjing” (“Beginning”), BYRDI is taking the important step from a highly respected underground act to an established force within the realm of Nordic folk. The Norwegians have recorded this album with the participation of various guest musicians including percussionist Kjell Braaten, who has performed live with WARDRUNA among other bands, and Mathias Gyllengahm (UTMARKEN, NORRSINNT) on nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle). “Byrjing” shows BYRDI in an almost intimate way and while their music may easily be labeled as “Nordic folk”, the Norwegians foremost sound like themselves.

BYRDI was founded in the ancient town of Hov in Eastern Norway by Nash Rothanburg and Jørn Øyhus in the year 2012. Their debut album “Eventyr” was released in 2014 and has been described as a “wild and strange ritual”. Two years later, the Norwegians had been joined by singer and songwriter Andreas Paulsen and started to work on their sophomore full-length. For the recording of “Ansur:Urkraft” (2017), the band used various locations in the mountains and woods of Eastern Norway.

“Ansur:Urkraft” created a buzz in the Nordic folk scene and earned the band (among others shows) two invitations to perform at the prestigious Midgardsblot Festival in Borre, Norway among the grave mounds of chieftains from the Viking age and even earlier periods. The fast rise of BYRDI is underlined by more than a million streams of their single “Solsnu”, which was aptly first released on the day of the winter solstice in 2018. 

Having been joined by harpist Gulia Wyrd-Svartskog, BYRDI are now ready to spread their music and words to an even greater audience with “Byrjing”.

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You can pre-order “Byrjing”, at this location.