Elsk - Hjærtet æ bar [The heart I carried]

On the album “Hjertet æ bar” [The heart I carried] they play with contrasts. The music spans from vulnerable ballads to heavy rock.

The lyrics are always in focus, and the voices express both the sad and the light, and the heavy and the rough. The sound changes frequently between an acoustic and an electric sound landscape. Constantly surprising, it is nevertheless the powerful presentation of the lyrics by Kim Lie, Aleksander Emilsen and guest singers that leads the listener through all the tracks.

“Hjertet æ bar” is one in a long series of albums released by KKV with a narrative about and spotlight on the human aspect, music that helps us to see ourselves. ELSK wants to tell the story of Easter in a new way. They have peeled away much of the Biblical text in favour of their own lived and experienced lives.

We all carry an Easter story, with losses and pain, victories and hopes. The album has a message to everyone who needs to know that they are not alone with their struggles in life. The title “Hjertet æ bar” gives many associations – it can refer to carrying your own tired heart or helping others carry theirs. The lyrics share a message of loss, hope and love, about losing oneself and finding oneself, about taking a second look at the people we meet, all carrying a vulnerable heart and deserving to be seen for who they are. This is the message the band wants to give to listeners across the country.

The backstory of the album is found in Kirkens Bymisjon (The Church City Mission) Nordland, where songwriter and guitarist Chris Slettvoll and Kim Lie worked on an Easter show which premiered in Stormen Konserthus [The Tempest Concert Hall] in Bodø in 2019. Eventually Aleksander Emilsen joined this effort, and together they formed the band called ELSK. The show evolved into an offer of a concert experience for people not in the habit of rushing through the doors of concert halls. Through a grand production with visual effects, theatre and many external musicians, the band told the Easter history in a way that echoes in most of us, regardless our faith.

The new album presents the music they made for this show. It was cancelled due to the corona virus in 2020, and cannot even be played on stage in 2021, not in Bodø nor elsewhere, as the threat of infection is still with us. But the essence of the show can now be experienced through the songs on this new CD release.