Frøkedal examines duality in new double single 'LTF' / 'Cracks'

Frøkedal examines duality in new double single ‘LTF' / ‘Cracks'

"shimmering folk...accompanied by gentle, intricate percussion and gleaming guitar chords" — The FADER "Majestic and immediate, lucid and ethereal." – The New Yorker  "Startlingly beautiful” — The Sunday Times "Frøkedal has an unwavering knack for melody...instantly gratifying" – DIY “This is a voice that demands to be heard” – The Line Of Best Fit “…think Fleetwood Mac getting on pretty well with Joni Mitchell.”  – BBC Radio 6music, Lauren Laverne Oslo, Norway based artist Frøkedal is today (25/8/17) releasing a new double single — ‘LTF’ / ‘Cracks’ - premiering a moment ago on The FADER. Celebrated by the likes of The New Yorker, The Fader, The Sunday Times, The Independent, DIY Magazine, CLASH, The Line Of Best Fit, Q Magazine and many more; the new double single follows acclaimed single ’Stranger’ released earlier this year, as well as her Norwegian Grammy-nominated debut LP of 2016, ‘Hold On Dreamer’.   STREAM 'LTF' / 'CRACKS' HERE (or by clicking on the players below) OUT NOW VIA PROPELLER Two captivating pieces of music, ‘LTF’ and ‘Cracks’ are similar in the sense that they both describe how feelings of love are often accompanied by an almost-physical fear. Yet, the two songs differ in their urgency, instrumentation, and overall artistic delivery. ‘LTF’ is full of twists and turns, as Anne Lise Frøkedal navigates her way around bustling drum work and complex guitar passages, hinting at a state of emotional bedlam: “Everything we aimed to be / The image stirs so easily / Too fast to follow / I don’t know what you’re doing to me”. Speaking a little more on the tracks, Frøkedal explained: "‘LTF’ is set in an urban landscape, and inspired by the escalating chaos of daily life, whereas ‘Cracks’ gets back to basics – it’s more vulnerable, and mature in that way. ‘Cracks’ suggests that the problem lies in our nature – nothing is more scary than exposing our weaknesses and imperfections." Instrumentally, the double release could be argued to be one of Frøkedal most diverse yet. "I wanted the arrangements in ‘LTF’ to channel the more chaotic nature of the lyric” Frøkedal says. "The second instrumental in ‘LTF’ is like a mini-postcard from last year when I was a clueless Norwegian trying to navigate the busy and bustling streets of Beijing. I laughed a lot when I realised I had musically recreated that moment” - perhaps referencing the tumultuous instrumental finale to the track. "‘Cracks’ is painfully honest. It was difficult writing a song like that, but I really wanted to try shortening the distance a little, lay it open. I got Familien [Frøkedal’s band] to sing a verse with me, because the theme feels universal. One of my favourite percussion instruments is the Cajun triangle, and you can hear a trace of it in the bridge of ‘Cracks’. To me, it sounds like a reminder of danger lurking around the corner.” Despite track-by-track production, Frøkedal’s lyrical output has taken a much more thematic approach with recent single ’Stranger’, and the double single released today: “When I started writing this new material, I was picturing different ages or stages in our lives when our vision gets a little blurred. I wanted the songs (and the characters) to channel these critical moments when decisions are dominated by emotion and not necessarily by logic,” she says. ‘LTF’ and ‘Cracks' join Frøkedal’s already-impressive body of work, having previously collaborated with Robyn Hitchcock and fronted successful Norwegian outfit Harrys Gym. She remains a core member of I Was A King, who count Sufjan Stevens and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake among past collaborators.