Cecilie Anna's third solo album 'Hommage County' is out!

Yay is an understatement - it feels amazing! ‘Hommage County’ is out and has received wonderful reviews in Norwegian press.

Excert from Per Henrik Arnesen’s review published at gaffa.no:
This is not background music; it requires that the listener spends time, time to let the melodies crawl in. It’s intimate, raw and beautiful, with everything wrapped around little stories. It’s an album which deserves your time and attention.

Cover photo: Magne Langåker

#10/10 singles out today! 'October' Hurrah!

‘October’ is a triple homage: For local heroine Anne Gjerstad’s voice, for Bruce Springsteen (musically and lyrically), and as a thank you to Norwegian radio programme Stjernepose (Bag of stars) for playing a broader spectrum of music including Cecilie Anna’s, not just worn-out playlists.

October is Anne Gjerstad's debut as a recording artist! Cecilie Anna has loved her voice for years and always thought she should have a song of her own. The two didn’t know each other so well when Cecilie Anna phoned Anne up saying “Hi! I’ve made a song for your voice, wanna come over?”, Anne couldn’t quite believe it, but came over and after having sung ‘October for a bit, she exclaimed “Wow, this song fits my voice like hand in glove!”

No surprise to Cecilie Anna, who had heard it a million times in her head.

The song is about holding back your love, and sometimes we must. The strength we find to hold back so the one we love can go on with their life without the imposition of feelings they for some reason wouldn’t have room for. There is true beauty in it, a different kind of love.

Cover image is a hommage to Bruce Springsteen’s cover image on his single ‘Fire. It’s hard to believe Cecilie Anna tried her best to copy Bruce’s sexy face expression, but she really did.
Words, Music, Arrangement: Cecilie Anna
Vocals: Anne Gjerstad
Choir: Lene Jeanette Skogvold
Choir and Piano: Cecilie Anna
Recording, Mixing, Co-Production: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cover photo: Magne Langåker
Graphic design: Anne Gjerstad
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#9/10 singles out today! 'Bring This to Bill'

Working with the new album, Cecilie Anna decided to write a solo song for Bill Callahan’s voice. Her love for his singing stretches back twelve years. She loves the dark ring to Callahan’s voice and the beautiful simplicity carried within it. The lyric of the song is a portrait of how words lead us when we’re not thinking. The inner structures of our feelings, experiences, relationships made audible through the repetition of thoughts.

Cecilie Anna has barely ridden a horse, but she’s certain Bill Callahan has done it a lot, or at least his voice has. The tranquility it possesses resembles that which you can find if you’re in contact with animals over time. Cecilie Anna merely lit the thought and the song started to evolve in her head. The recording is only the second time she’s sung the song out loud.

The soundscape was built by Cecilie Anna from recorded sounds, with the dark, deep rumbling sound from an electrical toothbrush. The sound of her little girl in the beginning.

Cover image by Cecilie Anna’s favourite photographer, Paal Audestad, taken on their trip to Manchester in 2019.

Music, words and soundscape: Cecilie Anna
Bass accordion: Gisle Østrem
Recording, Mixing and Co-Producer: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#8/10 singles out today! 'Lights Low'

The first of the songs Cecilie Anna was inspired to make when long-time favourite voices Bill Callahan and Will Oldham suddenly started releasing songs together. Her head nearly exploded while listening to their take on Cat Steven’s ‘In the Blackness of the Night’ and she immediately made ‘Lights Low’. Not only does it pay tribute to their voices, it’s also a hommage to Cat Steven’s song which tells the story of a young soldier dying on the battlefield in a war not of his own. The song encourages us to try to care for and nourish what is left after dark times, and to attempt to build something new with love and patience.

Music, Words, Vocals, Pump Organ: Cecilie Anna
Recording, Mixing and Co-Producer: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#7/10 singles out today! 'Nightingale'

“Nightingale” is a poem by World War 1 poet James Lyons, who was re-discovered by Cecilie Anna’s poet and writer friend Robert Cochrane. Lyons tragically died at the age of 22.

Cochrane stumbled across Lyon’s second book of poetry, ‘Gleam o’ Pearls’, (released posthumously) in an antique book shop. He had not heard of Lyons before and having a good working knowledge of World War poets, was instantly curious.

Cochrane researched Lyons for years but the information was relatively scarce. Not even experts on WW1 poets had heard of him. Only one photo was discovered, a handful of letters, and what turned out to be the first book Lyons released; ‘Sons of the Empire, and other poems’. Cochrane was struck by the excellence of many of Lyons’ poems and decided to release a collection of his works, naming the book after one of his favourites: ‘Do you Remember - the selected poems of James Lyons’ (Bad Press, Manchester 2018)

Cochrane invited artists to put music to poems of their choice, and Cecilie Anna immediately connected with ‘Nightingale’. The collection of sung poems will be released during 2024, titled ‘Do you Remember’.

Robert Cochrane’s research is presented as a very intriguing foreword in the book, making you wish you could know more of this beautiful soul who amongst so many other young souls sadly died all too young. Cochrane has, through his love and patience, made sure Lyon’s forgotten work has been lifted into the light again. For that, he deserves a medal.

Words by James Lyons
Music, Vocals and Piano: Cecilie Anna
Recording: Vidar Vedå
Mixing, Co-Production: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#6/10 singles out today! 'Before I Go'

Listening to Will and Bill’s single “I’ve Made Up My Mind” for the first time, Cecilie Anna had to turn it off after 1:30. She was already making her song “Before I Go” for their two voices on direct inspiration. Cecilie Anna encourages you to listen to Bill and Will’s song before putting hers on. Perhaps you can hear the mirroring too.

The cover photo is taken by Svein Olav Langåker and portrays Cecilie Anna with best friend Einar Økland resting after a poetry/music assignment. “Before I Go” is Einar’s favorite on the album and is dedicated to him.

Music, Words, Vocals, Pump Organ: Cecilie Anna
Bass accordion: Gisle Østrem
Recording, Mixing and Co-Producer: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#5/10 singles out today! 'I See a Darkness'

«I was walking, and all around me I could feel you” These are the opening lines of Cecilie Anna’s take on Will Oldham’s “I See a Darkness”. Cecilie Anna’s words introducing her musical coat wrapped around Oldham’s classic. Making covers, Cecilie Anna starts to walk inside the song, and without exceptions, she always finds new chords and melody. Initially, she sees the same trees and mountains as everyone else, but keeps walking, and there it is: A mountain beyond the mountain. A forest beyond the forest. Cecilie Anna breathes life into an old and many times weary landscape.

The soundscape consists of sounds Cecilie Anna has made; recorded sounds manipulated into new sounds, along with lute and pump organ. The darkest bass tone is Cecilie Anna’s voice heavily manipulated, originally one word sung backwards.

Will Oldham’s lyrics is portrayed broken towards the end, with Cecilie Anna’s words snatching the air. You take one song and run it though another soul with all the flesh and liquids melting together. That’s what it sounds like.

The cover is a hommage to the original cover. Awa Rahimpour's beautiful photo of two hands points to Joanne Oldham's iconic scull.

Original song by Will Oldham
Arrangement, vocals, Pump organ & Soundscapes: Cecilie Anna
Bass accordion: Gisle Østrem
Guitar and bandola: Roald Kaldestad
Recording, Mixing, Co-producer: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#4/10 singles out today! 'Hommage'

The lyrics of Cecilie Anna’s “Hommage” portrays the loneliness she has experienced through years of writing songs for artists’ voices living far away. Cecilie Anna views their beautiful voices as meteors landing in her garden. She makes songs from the pieces in the hope that they can rise into the sky and become stars of their own. Perhaps one day the owners of the voices will see it from where they are.

The arrangement consists of one jingle bell 'ding' slowed down heavily, multiplied and placed manually one by one. It took Cecilie Anna almost three months, using only her perfect pitch as a holding point.

Cover photo is taken by Cecilie Anna on a boat trip she took to the North many years ago.

Music, words and soundscape: Cecilie Anna
Recording, Mixing and Co-Producer: SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

"Trust" is out! Finally - what a wonderful day

"Trust" is a song for Cecilie Anna's husband, Vidar Vedå (a.k.a The sexiest man on the planet)s' beautiful voice. Like with other favorite voices, Cecilie anna express her messages and feelings trough it. She wrote "Trust" as a thank you to Dick Huey, who Cecilie Anna met on a music conference, who was kind enough to trust Cecilie Anna and passed on one of her songs, Old Love, written for his artist friend, Joe Henry's voice. Henry then wrote Cecilie Anna to let her know how beautiful he found the song and how touching the gesture. This led to Cecilie Anna writing "Trust" as a thank you to Dick. The song is from the old times when no one were afraid of proper words of love between friends.

Many times people think it was written in the 60s, but the year was actually 2019.

Photo from Cecilie Anna and Vidar Vedå’s wedding by Frank Biringer

#3/10 singles out today! 'Low Clouds'

“Low Clouds” is a song Cecilie Anna has written for favourite voice Will Oldham. What captures her about his singing is how it portrays a whole person, not only the glammed-up parts. We are more weekdays than Saturdays. It’s about discovering a different kind of beauty. The hardest kind of all, perhaps, because it means loving yourself and others exactly how we are.

The song itself can be perhaps be experienced as a bit dark, but we cannot ignore these questions that sometimes haunt us, because we are alive, and we don’t exactly always know how or why, or what’s beyond when we go. Hope starts when we dare to express how we feel, especially the times when we don’t have the answers. More of that.

Cecilie Anna can hear voices in her head, in a positive and creative way: Favourite voices soundtrack her life and can be experienced almost like sung conversations in her head. Will Oldhams' voice accompanied her for the first three days of her vacation on Crete in 2019, and they made "Low Clouds" sitting at a restaurant looking at the mountains.

All sounds on the track by Cecilie Anna.
Recording, Mixing, Co-production: Gisle Østrem, SirSound Productions, Stord
Mastered in Abbey Road Studios, London by Alex Wharton
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

Photo by SirSound at Siggjo, Bømlo

#2/10 singles out today! 'Follow You'

Such a big day! Friend and colleague Endre Olsen singing the song Cecilie Anna made for his voice many years ago. Walking home after their annual music gathering where Endre always sings Tom Waits' 'Take Care of All My Children', Cecilie Anna always thought that he should have his own song in a similar street. Some years down the road, in 2018, Cecilie Anna finally made 'Follow You' for his voice. Endre recording the song is a dream come true for Cecilie Anna.

Cover image by Magne Langåker

Words, Music & Arrangement by Cecilie Anna
Vocals, guitar: Endre Olsen
Vocals, piano: Cecilie Anna
Recorded, Mixed and Co-Produced by SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton in Abbey Road Studios, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

#1/10 singles out today! 'Bout the Crows'

It’s with great pleasure to announce that Cecilie Anna’s smoking hot single Bout the Crows is out! Written for Will Oldham and Bill Callahan’s voices after Cecilie Anna heard their take on Heather Summer’s Red Tailed Hawk. The soundscape is put together by raw recorded sounds manipulated by Cecilie Anna. What sounds like pizzicatto started out as jingle bells… Premium guitarist and fashion lion Roald Kaldestad joins in. The single is first of ten, leading up to Cecilie Anna’s fourth studio album, Hommage County, releasing September 29. 2023
Recorded, mixing and co-produced by SirSound, Stord.
Mastered by Alex Wharton, Abbey Road Studios, London
Cover is a photo booth shot from London, together with Giles and chambermaid Ragnhild Tveit.

Music, arrangement, vocals, soundscapes, pump organ: Cecilie Anna
Guitar: Roald Kaldestad
Recorded, mixed and co-produced by SirSound, Stord
Mastered by Alex Wharton, Abbey Road, London
Cecilie Anna Records 2023

Outstanding reviews!

CECILIE ANNA recently received outstanding reviews for both her solo albums at the NY based blog “Dusty Wrights Culture Catch”! A brilliant blog on the mission to “filter and share compelling content with cultural enthusiasts in all areas of the Arts -- music, literature, film, art, and theater.” Hurrah!
Read Night Falls and Lullabies (New Bird)
A Considering of Pearls (I’m Here)

Thank you, Rob and Dusty!

Second edition of New Bird ready!

It’s truly a pleasure visiting Sigve Håland and T-Time Vinyl Plant again, picking up the second edition of New Bird on LP. First edition is now sold out with the exception of a few copies in record shops in Bergen.

To order New Bird on LP and other records on CD, please visit: https://cecilieanna.bandcamp.com/

"New Bird" LPs

First edition of the “New Bird” LP, limited to 100 copies, is nearly sold out. Only a few records left in Apollon Platebar (Record shop in Bergen, Norway). Second edition will be produced with a sligth alteration and is now in process limited to 200 copies.

New Bird is out to flying reviews!

New Bird is out! LP is in the works, will be ready early 2020.
Per Henrik Arnesen at gaffa.no, Norwegian online music magazine:
"This music does something with you, there's no way you can listen to it untouched. The discovery of CECILIE ANNA's music gives hope that it's still possible to be bewildered by the new and unknown..."

Øyvind Vågnes in Norwegian National Newspaper Dag og Tid:
"Listening to these songs does you good. There is a real sense of caring that permeates everything, without it becoming simplistic or corny. Care for those who are close, for the joy of creating, and a sense of wonder at life itself, in all its glory, and a real sense of gratitude."

Read full reviews here: https://cecilieanna.com/reviews

Available wherever you love to listen. Bandcamp Spotify

Manchester!

CECILIE ANNA live at Dulcimer Bar, Chorlton Manchester, September 28. 2019 Photo: Paal Audestad

How fabulous to play in Manchester! Thank you Robert Cochrane for inviting us, for showing us your city and sharing laughs. Thank you Paal Audestad for joining us and taking these amazing photos. We really enjoyed to get to know you! Dear Manchester: Thank you for welcoming us through the brightness of your rain, between your tall buildings and rivers of people in your streets. Thank you Dulcimer Bar for that wonderful evening of music and love, for letting us hear the roars from your hearts.

CECILIE ANNA in Manchester together with poet Robert Cochrane, boyfriend and co-singer Vidar Vedå, producer Gisle Østrem and photographer Paal Audestad. Goodtimes!

CECILIE ANNA, Gisle Østrem and Vidar Vedå.
Photo: Paal Audestad

CECILIE ANNA and Robert Cochrane
Photo: Paal Audestad

New single Winter Turns to Spring!

Dear friends, it’s lovely to announce the release of CECILIE ANNA’s fourth single, ‘Winter Turns to Spring’! It will be out this Friday, September 28. and will be the last single release before her new album ‘New Bird’ comes out Oct.25. Winter Turns to Spring is for CECILIE ANNA’s father, Hjalmar. Her album ‘I’m Here’ (2017) was also dedicated to him. The cover photo for the single has a very special story. (Read below.)

Photo by Odd Atslev

Odd Atslev took a lot of photos in the 1930s, and about 10 years ago CECILIE ANNA came across one of his photo albums in an antiques shop in Oslo. Most of the photos were of family members and friends on excursions and get-togethers. However, it was clear that he had been a very talented photographer with a good eye. Many years later CECILIE ANNA managed to get in touch with one of Atslev’s nieces. She was able to reveal that her uncle had been a photographer for British Intelligence during the Second World War and was arrested in 1942. After having spent some time at Grini Prison he was sent on to prison camps in Germany, and returned home after the war. The photo album was sent to Atslev’s decendants in the U.S., and CECILIE ANNAa is very pleased that she was able to use one of the photos as the cover image for the single ‘Winter Turns To Spring’, a song she wrote for her father. It’s all about love that exists across time and space. CECILIE ANNA feels an artistic and friend-like affinity towards Odd, which also transcends time and space. She hopes and believes that he would have liked the fact that one of his photographs was used as an image for a cover. Atslev died in 1998. Those that knew him describe him as kind, artistic and an all-round good person. (Thanks to Annika Harzhofer for help with translation of this text.)

CECILIE ANNA Live

So happy to announce two upcoming gigs! Welcome everyone.

New single "New Bird" is out!

“New Bird” has radio premiere today at Stjernepose 09:00, a Norwegian popular radio show. In English, the title translates into “Bag of Stars”, and the two music astronauts Toto Mjelde and Kjartan Ericsson is simply great guys with a great show. For those who speak the language, here’s link to their page. Rerun this evening at 22:00.

“New Bird” is the third single and the title track from CECILIE ANNA’s new album coming out October 25. The track is the closest thing CECILIE ANNA has done to a happy-song. It’s all about travelling light like a bird, with hardly anything. But also always knowing that you are part of a world with people in it whom you love and who love you back. New Bird is about the sense that geographical distance isn’t the same as the distance between hearts.

“New Bird” is available on Bandcamp as well as your usual streaming services.

Cover photo by Paal Audestad, one of Norway’s finest.