Wardruna 'Birna' 2xLP

From the deep woods now emerges Birna, Wardruna’s sixth studio album, through Sony Music and By Norse Music. Through his never resting dialogue with nature, main composer Einar Selvik has been searching for the voice of the bear.  

The heartbeat of the dormant bear, around nine beats per minute, can be felt throughout the Birna album. This cyclical process, so embedded both in nature and the worldview of older cultures, drives Einar Selvik’s every creative work. Birna nurtures the insight that has been at the core of Selvik’s philosophy right from the start: sowing new seeds whilst strengthening old roots. 

Instruments and wisdom from ancient times, coupled with modern day soundscapes and recorded sounds of nature, provide a rare opportunity to tell us something valuable about ourselves. It works as a reminder that we are part of nature, not above it, and it offers a way of remembering, not for memory’s own sake, but to gain both new and forgotten insights.