Nordic Sounds
In today’s singer-songwriter scene in the Faroes, you can’t ignore Dánjal a Neystabo. Besides songs for his three albums under his own name, his songs or lyrics regularly appear on the albums of others. For example, he had a major part in Afenginn’s last studio album Klingra (listen to last month’s broadcast of Nordic Sounds: https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/folk_it_642805/ ).
There are more similarities and connections with the group that settled in Denmark. In the band around the singer songwriter -simply called Dánjal- the mandolin player is no less than Kim Rafael Nyberg, the musical leader of Afenginn. A Neystabo and Nyberg met while studying at the conservatoire and have been a close writer duo ever since. A Neystabo himself describes this collaboration as ‘the 21st century version of Lennon & McCartney. Only he is in Denmark, I am in the Faroe Islands’. Dánjal a Neystabo is responsible for the lyrics, Nyberg for the arrangements of the music which they often compose in unison. Not surprisingly, then, there are musical similarities to Afenginn: the sometimes Balkan-like rhythms, the later minimalist approach. It is a fusion of pop with classical music, of Tom Waits with folk. The societal themes are not reactionary, but rather philosophical in nature. They are performed by a fairly regular line-up of band members. A review of the albums can be found after the broadcast at www.newfolksounds.nl
Dánjal – The Palace – Tütl HJF178
1. Gylta 3:35
2. Hep 1:43
3. Drunken Tango 2:12
4. Leaving The Palace 1:19
5. Our Song 3:21
6. Longsul 7:00
Dánjal – The Bubble – Tütl HJF278
7. With You 4:24
8. Ballroom Dance (Prelude) 3:05
9. And So It Grows… Again 1:45
10. Give Me 4:56
11. Paint Me Blue 4:12
Dánjal – Time – Tütl HJF478
12. Never Again 7:24
13. Woman 2:37
14. Rosemary 1:11
15. Time 8:00
Track 1-5, 9: lyrics and music Dánjal a Neystabo
Track 6: Kim Nyberg
Track 7, 8, 10-15: lyrics Dánjal a Neystabo, music: Dánjal a Nestabo & Kim Nyberg