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Caligonaut announces the Bandcamp release of the new single “Because we are not apart”. The song is the first new music from Caligonaut following the highly acclaimed debut solo album Magnified as Giants in February 2021.
- “I was really humbled and thankful when I saw the response the album was receiving, and almost felt that I could not express enough gratitude. Making this song became a vessel to channel my gratitude. It is in the same musical landscape as the album, but also represents a development and new elements. I am quite certain that if you liked
the album, you will thoroughly enjoy this song.”
Following the Bandcamp release, Caligonaut will soon release an accompanying video made by renowned music photographer Anne-Marie Forker, known for her work with Marillion.
The music video is Caligonaut’s second collaboration with Forker.
“Because we are not apart” reunites Bjørndal with performers from the album, notably Kristian Hultgren and Andreas W.S. Prestmo from Wobbler, Åsa Ree from Meer and Wobbler and Arild Brøter from Pymlico, but he also brings in some new names: keyboard
player Christian Holberg Heggen, who co-wrote the music, church organist Thøstur Eirikson and renowned cellist Bjørn Solum.
- “All these new people are neighbours that I met during Covid. Life is quite funny sometimes. We are on social lockdown, but still, you meet people with exceptional skills. Turns out I have a brilliant keyboard player and world class cellist as neighbours.”
Solum used a unique, priceless cello made in Venice in 1744 on the recording. He arranged three cello voices for the song.
- “When rehearsing, he started telling me about the story of the instrument, and my jaw dropped. Chopin and Mendelsohn have listened to their music being performed on this cello, and it is an ongoing discussion about whether it was heard by Beethoven himself. When he spoke, historical events were moving around in my mind. And with
the events in Ukraine, where we see classical performers playing their instruments in bombed buildings, the whole thing has taken on a new dimension for me. Music and art cannot be destroyed by wars and madmen. Humanity will probably forever have to
fight people like Putin or Hitler, who only accept their own sick version of civilisation, but at the same time, musical notes, instruments, and performers will always pull through and remind us of values worth fighting for and the beauty of human creativity.”
Bjørndal describes the song as a calm meditation that then builds, almost like a short story, towards a powerful ending. The first part is heavy on the pastoral side, featuring cello, violin,
piano and an acoustic guitar in Robert Fripp’s New Standard Tuning under Bjørndal’s vocals.
The symphonic prog elements with solos and organs come in strongly towards the end. The song also contains several beautiful vocal harmonies arranged by Wobbler members Prestmo
and Ree. The music was written together with keyboardist Christian Holberg Heggen.
- “The story in the song is about our common need to meet and to have meaningful relationships. I started writing the lyrics during the last covid shutdown in Norway and felt that I should try and describe some movement from a person’s isolation and dark thoughts to slowly experiencing the value of friendship. A lot of listeners
complimented me on the lyrics for the Magnified album, and I feel that I have been able to sustain that level in this new song.”
Caligonaut is a solo project by artist Ole Michael Bjørndal, a guitarist best known for his previous work with Oak, Airbag and Bjørn Riis Band. Caligonaut’s first album Magnified as Giants was released in February 2021 and was met with fantastic reviews worldwide and ended up on a lot of best of 2021 lists.
PERFORMERS:
Ole Michael Bjørndal: Lead vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitar (tuned in New Standard Tuning)
Christian Holberg Heggen: Piano, rhodes, Hammond organ and moog
Kristian Karl Hultgren (Wobbler): Bass guitars
Andreas W. S. Prestmo (Wobbler): Backing vocals
Bjørn Solum: Cello
Thøstur Eirikson: Church organ
Arild Brøter (Pymlico): Drums and percussion
Åsa Ree (Meer and Wobbler): Violin and backing vocals
lyrics
Set alight the fears
As the lights flicker
Alone you start to slide away
With no one near
And mist growing thicker
You've drawn a blank to the light of day
And now you see things like a secret everywhere you turn
Are we now apart
or can we end this drift?
Unbuild your plight and leave
Leave the evening shadows and the tricks they play on you
If you'd let me share
the burden of the rigor
they demand,
we´ll keep it all at bay
And the wear and tear
That used to make you bitter
Will go soundless into obscurity
Where one of us goes now the other one will follow
a dream sublime
Gather our souls on soft fallen pine needles
and let the sun fall upon them through the trees
Cause we are not apart
I feel it every day
Like one soul
Give me your winter days
And you´ll paint me sunlight of glittering sparks
Lie, lie here with me now until night’s curtain has been drawn
Cause we are not apart
I feel it every day
Like one soul
Give me your winter days
And you´ll paint me sunlight of glittering sparks
Pouring down in wave after wave
Listen for the creaking of the ancient gate
It is time to see what’s there under your skin
In the twilight I am here to let me in
credits
released May 6, 2022
Ole Michael Bjørndal: Lead vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitar (tuned in New Standard
Tuning)
Christian Holberg Heggen: Piano, rhodes, Hammond organ and moog
Kristian Karl Hultgren (Wobbler): Bass guitars
Andreas W. S. Prestmo (Wobbler): Backing vocals
Bjørn Solum: Cello
Thøstur Eirikson: Church organ
Arild Brøter (Pymlico): Drums and percussion
Åsa Ree (Meer and Wobbler): Violin and backing vocals
Caligonaut is a solo project from guitar player and singer Ole Michael Bjørndal, known from Norwegian prog bands Oak and Airbag. The project features performances from members in Wobbler, Pymlico and Airbag
supported by 18 fans who also own “Because we are not apart”
This might be the least folky of the Wobbler releases and I wasn't sure about it at all.
After a few listens however I'm loving the inventiveness and the endless melodies, all driven along by Kristian Hultgren's wonderful percussive bass. PartTimeZombie
supported by 16 fans who also own “Because we are not apart”
got recc'd this on youtube and loved it- reminds me a lot of late 60's and early 70's records i used to hear playing out of my parents' stereo on sweltering summer days. OPAL
supported by 13 fans who also own “Because we are not apart”
Lead guitarist for Neo-Prog band, Airbag, has released this solo recording, and as expected, there is plenty of guitar goodness all through it. He brings in other musicians to fill out the band, as well as being joined at times by a female vocalist. The lyrics are thoughtful and often mournful, with a wealth of dynamic tension and release, musically. It becomes more striking with each listen, as, deceptively, there is much to ponder here. Nickie Harte Kelly
Sustained by seismic psych riffs, proggy shifts, and vivid sci-fi storytelling, these Milwaukee cosmonauts command respect. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2023
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
supported by 13 fans who also own “Because we are not apart”
The new live EP by Ryan W. Stevenson's project reminded me, that this debut album must have been gone down the wishlist... If instrumental Canterbury stuff is your thing, this should be a no-brainer. Firmly rooted in the past (late 60s, 70s), nevertheless with a fresh sound. Guests incude The Tangent's Andy Tillison and Soft Machine's Theo Travis. Carsten Pieper