Norwegian duo Smerz have announced the release of ‘Believer’, their debut album, coming on 26 February 2021 via XL Recordings. The announcement is accompanied by a music video for the title track. “The lyrics for this song were written over a period of almost two years,” the duo recall. “So it ended up having a natural development parallel to our lives.”
‘Believer’ is another taste from the forthcoming album that pushes Smerz far beyond their previous EP releases, 2017’s Okey and 2018’s Have Fun. Since releasing the ‘Believer’ trailer back in October 2020 followed by a video for the tracks ‘I don’t talk about that much/Hva hvis’, the duo of Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt have slowly revealed a new auditory world. The duo meld sonic touchstones from their youth, like musicals and classical music, with swirling, trance-indebted synth lines and hip-hop plus R&B vocals that is distinctly Smerz.
The video Smerz have released today is for the album’s title track and is the third video for the project to be directed by Benjamin Barron (who also directed the artwork,) with costumes by Bror August and starring Smerz.
The ideas explored in Benjamin’s videos for Smerz perfectly represent the escape from reality suggested in their own music. It’s a world that toes the line between real life and dreams, one that’s steeped in the nostalgia and romanticism of Norway’s cultural and artistic history and explores the nature of the duo’s close friendship.
Last fall the duo performed at Oslo’s Ultima festival; in early 2020 they scored a performance by Carte Blanche, the Norwegian national company of contemporary dance, as well as performed at Mira festival in collaboration with legendary visual maverick Weirdcore.
Smerz (Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt) by Benjamin Barron and Bror August (download)
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