Diggin’ This: Konradsen – “Out in the Backyard” (Live at Kråkeslottet)
Jenny Marie Sabel has one of my favorite voices in music.
Image via Marthe Thu
Immerse yourself in the sapphire blue of Norway’s winter half-light as you listen to this new song from the Troms og Finnmark fylke duo, Konradsen.
Accompanied by a stunning video, this live version of “Out In the Backyard” was performed on the mountainous island of Senja in the northern part of the country, where multi-instrumentalist Eirik Vildgren now lives after the pair left Oslo. Singer Jenny returned to her hometown of Storfjord, where she works as a schoolteacher and is building a cottage with her husband by hand in her parents’ backyard.
Says Konradsen, ”Kråkeslottet is an old fishery on the outer coast of Senja in Norway. It was abandoned in the 60s and was taken over and turned into a cultural space in the 70s. Since then it’s been the location for concerts, music festivals, art festivals and much more. It’s been a very important place to us for many years, but now it’s sadly been sold. It was too hard to run, and big money has swooped in and bought the place to build a luxury hotel, and perhaps tear the whole thing down. We planned to make this video, and this was our last chance to make something in Kråkeslottet. This video is a celebration for our new music coming out, but also a goodbye.”
Konradsen – “Out in the Backyard” (Live at Kråkeslottet)
Lyrics:
When I’m off to roll my eyes you ask me again
Will you sing a story I can hum in every room?
Out in the backyard you’re building me a house
Four in the morning I tuck you in my blouse
I wrap my hands around every waist of home
Been living like a stone whipped around the coast
Honey you got me down on my knees
I’m begging you please, let’s just move right away
We’ll tickle and shake our old piece of mind
that shaped all our time in this cultural empire
Grow yourself some answers in that big pile of dirt
Telling a friend it’s easy will not heal that Monday blues
Out on the Island the cashier knows your name
Back in the old shed you’ll find yourself again
I wrap my hands around every waist of home
Been living like a stone whipped around the coast
Melt my mouth in sweet salty promise
Honey you got me down on my knees
I’m begging you please, let’s just move right away
We’ll tickle and shake our old piece of mind
that shaped all our time in this cultural empire
I wrap my hands around every waist of home
Been living like a stone whipped around the coast
Melt my mouth in sweet salty promise
Honey we got our own set of trees
a brisk ocean breeze, spill that coffee on me
We broke the wheel of strange old design
that shaped all our time in this cultural empire
“Out In the Backyard” is the first track on Konradsen‘s second album, Michael’s Book on Bears, out on March 8 via 777 Music.
Tracklisting:
1. Out In the Backyard
2. Scandinavian Dynamite
3. Michael
4. I.O.U.
5. Maybe I Like Fermentation
6. Let It Pour Like the Old Days
7. Thickest Birch feat. Fredrik Høyer
8. Fieldfare
9. Pillow Mountain
10. Dolos Viessu feat. Emil Karlsen
11. Æ og Min Elskede
Listen to the studio version of “Out In the Backyard” on Spotify here.
Check out more of my favorite songs from Konradsen here
and
hear more of my favorite artists from Norway here
and
listen to the tracks I’m very into right now on my 2023 Essentials playlist here.