Music Industry News

Karl Sölve Steven is a composer and producer, currently based in Pārāwai (Thames) and Anna Fält is a voice artist & singing teacher originally from Finland, living in Sweden.

Steven’s output is a collage of organic and electronic sources, synthesised down into an ambitious and enigmatic sound. While working mainly with music to picture, Steven has also been a part of groups Queen Neptune, The Drab Doo-Riffs, Heart Attack Alley and Supergroove.

Anna Fält works widely within the culture branch, including theatre stages, art projects and various festivals and venues. Born & raised in Finland, living in Sweden, Anna combines the different voice traditions, languages and singing aesthetics to a unique combination of sounds.

Today Fält and Steven have release V Ä V A, a new collaborative album.

V Ä V A, meaning “to weave” in Swedish, swirls in a mesmerising exploration of cyclicality in sound. Fält’s versatile vocals traverse from tender melodies to inventive vocalisations, interwoven with Steven’s deft manipulation of fragmented stringed instruments and synthesised textures. Recorded across continents, from Roundhead Studios in Auckland to Sounday Production AB in Stockholm, V Ä V A emerges as a testament to their sonic synergy.

“The V Ä V A project is definitely a special one for me,” says Steven. “It marks the first time in my musical journey that I’ve had the opportunity to explore my Swedish roots, in particular those of the Värmland/Finnskog regions where my Mother’s Mother’s family comes from and where my Uncle still lives (out in the forest in a house that has sheltered the family for multiple generations). The lake behind the house has been a touchstone throughout my life (there’s literally a stone which I touch whenever I visit!); I helped my Grandmother set up her loom (vävstol) there as a child, went ice-fishing with my uncle, and explored the forest (and picked berries and mushrooms!) with my Mother and family there many times.”

“Needless to say with this background I leapt at the opportunity to work with Anna Fält when we were introduced by our mutual friend, taonga pūoro artist Rob Thorne (Ngāti Tumutumu).” Fält notes “Rob had an intuition and told me to contact Karl because he just knew we would hit it off. Karl booked a studio, I flew and made a grand plan that literally sounded like this: ‘Let’s make Something!’. So ‘Ähky’ and V Ä V A is our Something.”

Finally, Steven reflects “a huge thanks to Anna for embarking on a project stretched out across the planet and through the mists of time forward and back and round and round.”

Check out all things Karl Sölve Steven below:
Website
Instagram

Picture 1: Artwork for ‘Ähky’
Picture 2: Karl Sölve Steven | Photo Credit: Paul Taylor
Picture 3: Anna Fält