By Charlie Maybee
Norwegian/Welsh songwriters Stian Vedøy and Abi Eleri (also known as Firewoodisland) have returned with a gorgeous collaboration with Becky Green titled “Wide Wide Space” which overflows with cascading piano and breathy vocals.
There’s a calm sense of electric current that flows beneath every note charging even the softest moments with an energy that is awe-inducing. Following in the footsteps of acts like Jonsi and Bon Iver, the hybrid mix of acoustic and electronic instruments makes for something warm and mystical. As the horn section leads in a gentle marching snare drum, there’s a sense of moving forward in this wide ethereal space with confidence, even if it is not immediately clear what lies ahead.
Speaking about the experience of working with Green, Firewoodisland notes that “We’ve loved her music for a long time and been in similar circles. Not that long ago she sent over a rough sketch with a melody line and piano hook saying that it reminded her of us. We fell in love with it instantly” With a few months later, they arranged for Green to come over for a weekend and develop more out of the musical sketch they had created. “We love how there’s not a traditional structure. There are a few individual parts that come together in the end to create a call and response type of crescendo.”
Lyrically, Firewoodisland and Green seek a renewed sense of freedom imagining a place for themselves in these wide-open spaces full of possibility. Though there may be a sense of brokenness heard in the restrained vocals, there is also hope for a new beginning.
“Wide Wide Space” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and YouTube. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
