Einar Solberg – 16

Written by on 01-06-2023 at 18:55.

Just an explanation in advance. Normally, we always write down band names in italic font and for band members we do not. But what do we do here if the two are the same? Well very simple: if it concerns the person then it is not italicized and if it concerns the band then it is in tower-of-Pisa font. So for example, Einar Solberg is the frontman of Einar Solberg. Then that’s clear again. Other than that, of course, we know the best man better and mostly from his main project Leprous. Yet there was still enough creativity left to launch his own project. To avoid any misunderstandings: this will exist completely separate from each other and Leprous therefore has the full attention and primary focus. For this new project 16, cooperation was sought with other musicians and producers to make the compositions shoot in all directions. Anyone who has followed Leprous over the past few albums cannot help but conclude that the sound there has become much more electronic and above all has a more pop oriented sound. On this solo project, this is (as to be expected) taken much further. If you are not up for that then you might want to stop reading immediately. I promise you that you will regret it. So don’t stop reading, please.

Several hundred lucky people, including your reviewer on duty and his colleague (see report in Dutch here), already had the chance to listen to almost the entire album during Prognosis Festival 2023 in Eindhoven. In fact, the organization had already approached Einar Solberg to showcase his solo project live, even when no music had yet been released. At the time of the concert, (don’t pin me down on it) only one or maybe two singles had been released. So in effect, the audience was watching a live premiere of the album. The protagonist himself later indicated about this that he had no intention at all of bringing the solo project to the stage (at that time already). Indeed, this was the first time in years that he was tense for a performance. That healthy tension was certainly palpable in retrospect and resulted in an insanely delicious performance. So when the digital mail for the album landed in our heavy mailbox, it was not a difficult choice to put my name behind this album, eager to see how the album would turn out on record. Well, here we go.

In any case, brace yourself. For one thing, it turns out that Mr. Solberg indeed had more than enough creativity left over. Consequently, we get eleven songs spread out over nearly seventy minutes. Secondly, 16 is an emotional roller coaster, managing to hit all aspects of the sentimental spectrum. Thematically, however, the album deals primarily with the difficult moments in the singer’s life, with age sixteen being a turning point. This is where he lost his relative innocence and came to realize that life is serious business. That deep emotion can be heard in the musical compositions and the magisterial vocal performance of Solberg himself. The music is almost cinematic and manages to intrigue, but above all to move. Here the logic of life itself is followed. From epic prog rock to spacy trip-hop, upbeat pop, even hip-hop and black metal screams. Bear in mind that in addition to the musicians named at the bottom of this review, a fairly large list of guest artists participated, playing French horn, trombone, trumpet, saxophone and organ, among others. Not to mention the participation of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. It would almost make you dizzy.

Therefore, it is nonsensical to cover every song at length. We can attempt to do so by describing it on the basis of emotion. For example, the album opens with the title track 16 in a very fragile way, something we later also hear in subdued compositions such as Blue Light, Over The Top and Remember Me. The latter, however, increases in heaviness toward the end, where the swelling guitars and violin create a beautiful climax. Most of the heavier compositions can be found in A Beautiful Life, but mainly in Splitting The Soul. While the song initially starts with alienating electronica, the absolute center of gravity of the album is surely found in the chorus where Prince of Darkness Ihsahn (Emperor and Ihsahn) lets his vocal chords flap. However, throughout the album, it is Einar Solberg who steals the show with his wonderful vocals. At times subdued and thoughtful, or on the contrary considerably tormented only to come out stronger and more robust again.

Opposite the dark is undeniably always the light. This is where Home is the speaking example (or should we talk about the slightly misplaced spoken word?) of this with delightfully upbeat horns. The clip (shown below) contains images of the previously mentioned Prognosis festival. Grotto also showcases a nice upbeat melody, with a hip-hop-inspired beat providing a lighthearted counterpoint. Although slightly gloomy, I also dare to place Where All The Twigs Broke under a certain upbeat mood. If only because the middle section, where The Chemical Brothers would surely push the button, puts a big fat smile on my face.

The best emotion, however, is saved until the last for this writing. Metacognitive acts out deep-seated insecurity and almost depression. The repeating mantra (”Get Me Out Of Here”) with once again alienating electronics and instrumentation works meditatively. Without a doubt one of the many highlights of this album. Fittingly, here we hear perhaps Solberg’s best vocal performance. The closing The Glass Is Empty (what’s in a title?) also acts from the sensitive side. A true epic of over eleven minutes lets all the emotions pass by once again. The second half of the song is definitely sad, anointing, and incredibly beautiful.

‘’I have to leave, I have to leave. I have to go.’’

And so all beauty comes to an end. By golly, I didn’t intend to write a whole book at all. However, what Einar Solberg and Einar Solberg bring here cannot be described in a few words. Even with this piece of work, I am still shortchanging the musical achievement. Does this fall under the category of heavy metal? No, not at all. But as lovers of great music, and let that just happen to include the heavier genres, we simply cannot ignore this kind of splendor either. Allow yourself an hour’s trip to another world and turn on 16 once. And then turn it on sixteen more times. Magisterial!

Score:

91/100

Label:

InsideOut Records, 2023

Tracklisting:

  1. 16
  2. Remember Me
  3. A Beautiful Life
  4. Where All The Twigs Broke
  5. Metacognitive
  6. Home
  7. Blue Light
  8. Grotto
  9. Splitting The Soul
  10. Over The Top
  11. The Glass Is Empty

Line-up:

  • Einar Solberg – Zang, keyboard
  • Tor Egil Kreken – Basgitaar
  • Chris Baum – Viool
  • Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Cello
  • Keli Guðjónsson – Drums

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