The harp – one of the oldest string instruments – has always, to me, been closely tied to the floating threshold between sleep and wakefulness. Its quiet paving between night and day became even more palpable when Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore brought the ancient instrument to life at DR Concert Hall’s Studio 2. Lattimore’s harp playing and Barwick’s ethereal vocals inhabit a space somewhere between modern ambient and classical nocturne – like an anachronistic lullaby infused with synthesizers and drenched in reverb.
Most of the concert’s pieces were drawn from Barwick and Lattimore’s recent album Tragic Magic (2026), recorded over ten days in a basement beneath the Philharmonie de Paris, with free access to its collection of antique instruments. Both 1970s synthesizers and 18th-century harps are awakened on the album. And although Barwick noted with a smile that the old harp from 1740 unfortunately could not join them that evening, it was clear to feel the two American musicians’ passion for the span between the antique and the contemporary. This tension was most evident in their story about the first rainfall following the devastating wildfires in their hometown of Los Angeles. A field recording of that very rain introduced their subsequent cover of Vangelis’ »Rachel’s Dream« from the Blade Runner (1982) soundtrack, casting the all-consuming fires in a dark science fiction glow. Yet Barwick’s cinematic whistling and Lattimore’s harp arpeggios still found a glimmer of light within the dystopian darkness. Though both musicians have long-standing solo careers behind them, one can only hope this will not be the last we hear of their collaboration.
The organ, one of Christianity’s most powerful liturgical markers, runs like a red thread through Swedish artist Anna von Hausswolff’s work. But on her latest album Iconoclasts, the long, piercing drones are toned down in favour of a sharper, driving energy. It was an energy that came through strongly at Hausswolff’s concert in Vega last night, where she was, as usual, joined by a large band. The evening opened with Swedish noise musician Klara Lewis, whose mumbling cassette-loop textures set a brutally atmospheric tone from the start.
Hausswolff’s band was this time expanded with saxophone and percussion, both central on Iconoclasts and both contributing to the slight eurodance tinge that colours several tracks. Unfortunately, the saxophone was at times swallowed by the dense soundscape. Fortunately, Hausswolff’s radiant voice cut through clearly. So did the small organetto – a kind of bellows-driven organ with long pipes. It stood like a totem at the centre of the stage and was almost embraced by Hausswolff whenever she played it. A piece like »The Whole Woman« (a waltzing duet with Iggy Pop on the album) became, in concert, a touching love ode, carried by the organ’s gentle breath as its pulse.
In recent years, a number of musicians have used the organ’s distinctive resonances to wrest it free from the weight of Christian liturgy, giving the instrument an almost iconoclastic status. Despite a slightly muddy sound mix, Hausswolff’s concert was a clear example of this contrast – still deeply rooted in ecclesiastical connotations, yet now an accomplice in large-scale modern productions and a central instrument on major stages.
English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek
»Music, to me, is … the silence that gropes – like yourself – across a black canvas.
In moments, a hissing emerges.
Nuts are cracked.«
Jørgen Teller has a long career as an electric guitarist, vocalist, electronic musician, and performer. He has released records solo as Static Teller and with Jørgen Teller & The Empty Stairs, Kaptajn Ørentvist … He frequently collaborates with local and international musicians.
»For me, music is a non-figurative process that cannot be definitively categorised.«
Kristoffer Raasted graduated as a visual artist from the Media School at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2018 and is currently completing a PhD in practice-based and artistic research. Raasted has been an artist in residence at the Danish Institute in Rome and a visiting researcher at UdK Sound Studies in Berlin as part of his PhD.
»When I search for new music, I search for sound that evokes images in my mind. It is fuel, a gateway to emotion, and my most important writing companion. When inspiration lapses, music is the tool that always jumpstarts it.«
Iain Forbes is a Scottish/Norwegian film director based in Oslo. He has studied film directing at Nordland College of Art and Film and the Norwegian Film School. His graduation film Revisited won a Student Academy Award in 2023. He has previously directed short films such as Snowman (2015) and Semper Fi (2017). His latest short After Dark won Best International Short Film at the Oscar-qualifying Foyle Film Festival in 2024
»Music, to me, is a companion through life, a premise, an excuse, a mystery, an explanation, a point of departure. It is old ideas, overlooked treasure chests, new angles, long concerts, doubt and conviction. It is words, tones, cracked voices, different points of departure, bass in the diaphragm, falsetto in the hair, challenges, rewards, and love.«
Nikolaj Nørlund made his solo debut with Navnløs (1996), an interpretation of poems by Michael Strunge, and released Nye Optagelser (1997) the following year, his first Danish-language singer-songwriter album. He has since worked broadly across music and poetry and is behind around 20 releases, both solo and in various band constellations. Nørlund’s projects range from collaborations with Copenhagen Phil on two orchestral albums, created together with author Naja Marie Aidt. His most recent release is the single »Englenes Park (nu ikke saa dark)«, the forerunner to the album Himlen skiftet ud, due for release at the end of November. In addition to his own work, Nørlund has, through the record label Auditorium, produced and released a number of Danish artists, including Niels Skousen, Ulige Numre, Jens Unmack, I Got You On Tape, and Martin Ryum. He was previously a member of Trains And Boats And Planes and periodically works with the English-language project Rhonda Harris. Nørlund has received a Danish Music Award (2003) and a Steppeulv (2006), both as Producer of the Year, as well as the Niels Mathiassen Cultural Award (2012).
