Live Concert Photography: Faroe Islands Culture Days: Eivør with Eli Tausen á Lava at The Cutting Room 4/9/24

Live Concert Photography: Faroe Islands Culture Days: Eivør with Eli Tausen á Lava at The Cutting Room 4/9/24

The Faroe Islands are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean with a total area of about 540 square miles, located 200 miles northwest of the United Kingdom and just over the Arctic Circle. The terrain is rugged — and naturally, the ocean plays a prominent role, both culturally and artistically. And if you’re wondering, the climate is generally windy, wet, cloudy and cool: Temperatures typically hover around 54º F in the summer and 41º F in the winter. The Faroese speak Faroese, which closely resembles and is related to Icelandic.

As a result of its northern latitude and proximity to the Arctic Circle, The Faroe Islands experience perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days. Their capital and largest city, Tórshavn receives the fewest hours of sunlight of any city in the entire world — 840!

Archeological evidence points to earlier human habitation, much like Iceland, the islands were mainly settled by Norwegians and Norse-Gaels, who brought Gaelic slaves. Throughout their history, the Faroese have been under rule by the following:

Norway from the early 11th Century to 1397,

The Kalmar Union, a confederation of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that went on and off between 1397-1523.

De facto Danish rule in 1523, followed by the introduction of Lutheranism, which resulted in the usage of Faroese being banned in churches, schools and state institutions — and eventually the end of it being a written language for about 200 years.

Formal Danish rule in 1814, along with Greenland and Iceland.

During World War 2, The Faroes were occupied by the British, who refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs. Inspired by this period of relative self-government and the declaration of Iceland as a republic in 1944, the islands held a referendum in 1946 that resulted in a narrow majority for independence. The results were annulled by Denmark’s Christian X, and subsequent negations led to Faroese being granted home rule in 1948.

While remaining part of the Kingdom of Denmark, The Faroe Islands have extensive autonomy and control over most areas, excluding defense, police, justice and currency with partial control over its own foreign affairs: They have an independent trade policy, and are able to establish trade agreements and relations with other countries. While Denmark has been a member of the European Economic Community and the European Union since 1973, the islands aren’t, continuing autonomy over their own fishing waters. (Unsurprisingly, this is gathered and paraphrased from Wikipedia.)

2024 sees The Faroe Islands boldly stepping out further into the global stage: The first direct flight from JFK to Tórshavn opened up late last year. In the past, you’d have to fly to Copenhagen or Frankfurt, and then get onto a flight to Tórshavn. My understanding of all of this, if I remember it got like this: First, the JFK-Frankfurt-Tórshavn trip was rather expensive. The JFK-Copenhagan-Tórshavn trip was also expensive; but not as expensive as Frankfurt. And the direct JFK to Tórshavn flight was seasonal. Still, for a country of a little under 55,000, it’s a big deal.

Along with that Scandinavia House has spent the most celebrating and exploring the art and culture of the North Atlantic archipelago through a series of programs, including panels on current issues, literary and design talks, film screenings, textile and culinary events, the exhibition of Fog Swept Cargo: Art From the Faroe Islands in the Scandinavia House Galleries — and to the interest of this intrepid journalist, live music.

Earlier this month, The Cutting Room in Midtown Manhattan hosted a showcase of Faroese artists:

Eivør, an acclaimed singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actor, who’s considered one of the most prolific, challenging and forward-thinking Nordic artist of her day.

Her career started in earnest with her first televised performance when she was 13. Over the course of her nearly three decade career, Eivør’s work has spanned a wide range of genres including folk, art pop, jazz, folk rock, classical and electronica — both as the frontperson of her first band Clickhaze and as a solo artist.

The acclaimed Faroese artist’s 11th album Enn is slated for a June 14, 2024 release through Season of Mist, and the album reportedly sees Eivør leaning heavier into brooding and dark electronics while tying back to her Nordic and Faroese roots: Most of the album’s material is sung in Faroese and written in collaboration with Faroese poet Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs.

Her Cutting Room set featured a mix of breathtakingly mesmerizing material from the forthcoming album, previously released material and songs written for the soundtracks of God of War and Netflix’s The Last Kingdom that revealed a voice with an powerful, operatic range.

Eli Tausen á Lava is a Faroese-born composer, who’s currently finishing his Masters in Music Theory and Composition at my alma mater New York University. So far, he has released two albums of critically applauded original, minimalist compositions — 2020’s Impressions, a slow-burning musical response to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022’s In A Field, which was anchored around the meshing of piano melodies and atmospheric electronics.

His opening set featured some of the most atmospheric and dreamiest material I’ve heard in some time.