Buy digital copy from Bandcamp

Once again, Groupa explores new frontiers. The third installment in the Kind of Folk series the focus is on Iceland. Join Groupa on the next step of their musical trek and discover what they experienced on fields of lava, in bracing winds and with the ancient magic of rímur.

Jonas Simonsson: flutes.

Mats Eden: strings.

Terje Isungset: drums, percussion, mouth harps and rams horn.

Guests from Iceland:

Skuli Sverrison: bass & electronics.

Hilmar Jensson: gutar & electronics.

Bara Grimsdottir: vocal.

www.groupa.se

Groupa has inspired a whole generation of Scandinavian musicians with their pioneering spirit and masterful command of their instruments. The next installment in their album series Kind of Folk clearly demonstrates how this trio continues to reinvent Nordic folk music – this time, with a focus on Iceland. Traditional Icelandic rímur are heard alongside innovative instrumentation and sensitive improvisation.

Iceland has kept its rímur tradition alive and the verse cycles tell epic sagas. They are to be found in worn, well-thumbed old notebooks, or in slim volumes of published collections. The melodies carry the tales. Some take hours to complete. This is Groupa’s journey, their own saga of their trek through rímur territory, fields of lava and bracing winds.

This release follows on Kind of Folk – Vol. 1 Sweden from 2016, which was nominated for a Swedish Grammy, and Vol. 2 Norway from 2018. Icelandic guest musicians grace this production: Bára Grímsdottir – voice, Hilmar Jensson – guitar, and Skúli Sverrison – bass.

Credits:
Thanks to Bára Grímsdóttir, Chris Foster, Rósa Þorsteinsdóttir and Berit Opheim

Musicians:
Terje Isungset - Drums/Percussion, Mouth harp, Goat horn
Jonas Simonson - Flutes
Mats Edén - Strings

Guests musicians and co-arrangers:
Bára Grímsdóttir - Voice: track 5 and 12
Skúli Sverrisson - Electric bass: track 2, 3, 6, 10, 11
Hilmar Jensson - Electric guitar: track 3, 6, 10, 12

All the music is arranged by Groupa and the guest musicians.

(*) Eysteinn Jónsson is great great grandfather of Bára Grímsdóttir

Abbreviation:
S.I. = Collections of Icelandic rímur melodies published in Silfurplötur Iðunnar by Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn and Smekkleysa, and Segulbönd Iðunnar by Kvæðammannafélagið Iðunn and Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum. Reykjavik

Recorded by Joakim Barfalk at Chromophone Studios, Torna Hällestad, Sweden and by Birgir Jón Birgisson at Sundlaugin hljóðver, Mosfellbær, Iceland.

Mixed by Tor Magne Hallibakken, Hallibakken Lydstudio, Nesbyen, Norway and by Anders Bjelland at Broen Studio, Bergen, Norway

Cover photo by Terje Isungset.

Cover design by AB OVO.

Over the years the band has collaborated with Ale Möller, Alag M’bye, Lena Willemark, the chamber orchestra Musica Vitae, Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, Guro Kvifte Nesheim amongst others.

The band currently consists of Edén along with Jonas Simonson (flutes, bass clarinet), and Terje Isungset (drums, percussion, mouth harp), who joined in 1983 and 1997 respectively.

In 1987 Groupa received the ”Volkkunstpreis F V S zu Hamburg”. Come the next decade, the band could be enjoyed in numerous Swedish towns, performing as one of the pillars that made up the collaborative touring project Folkmusiktältet during the summer of 1990. The following year they were awarded a Grammy for their fourth album Månskratt, featuring Lena Willemark as guest vocalist. The motivation of the jury read: ”For pulling the old woolly feeling off folk music with a curious smile!” Some 25 years later, the same album was named the sixth most significant Swedish folk music album ever by the magazine Lira. Groupa received a second Grammy in 1996 for their album Imeland. This time in competition with best-selling artists Rikard Wolff and Stefan Sundström.

In 1997, Groupa was joined by Terje Isungset who added a unique rhythmic sensitivity as well as a range of unusual timbres from materials such as wood, stone and even ice, used by this Norwegian master of experimental percussion music. One reviewer wrote refering to Isungset’s addition to the band: “… high-energy jew’s-harp zizz as well as percussion, like an earthquake in Santa’s workshop.”

As a quintet featuring singer Sofia Karlsson, Groupa released two albums: Lavalek in 1999 and Fjalar in 2002.

“On top of that are the just-right vocals of the other newish Groupanaut, Sofia Karlsson, who like Isungset is now fully integrated and takes an equal part in arranging and composition. With her, the band has turned another corner in its long and continuously interesting career, the backbone of Swedish new-roots since the early 1980s.” Andrew Cronshaw, fROOTS Magazine, 2002

“Lavalek is the most expansive and curious excursion the band has ever taken, working with a broader ambiance, an interesting mix of gentle, natural acoustics and aggressive use of percussion and electric keyboards.” Cliff Furnald, Roots World, about Lavalek.

Since 2007 Groupa has mainly worked as a trio. Their first trio album, Frost, was released in 2008. They have also engaged in collaborations with a number of other musicians.

In 2011, Groupa were joined by singer Lena Willemark on tour, performing with the Swedish chamber orchestra Musica Vitae. The following year they performed a highly acclaimed showcase at Womex in Thessaloniki.

In 2014, the album Silent Folk was released and received a great number of positive reviews. One writer called Groupa’s music “minimalist music played to maximum effect.”

2016 saw the release of the album Kind of Folk – Vol. 1 Sweden, interpreting traditional Swedish melodies, as well as presenting a few of their own tracks. Rootsworld’s reviewer said about the album that “Groupa’s way of blending the old and traditional with the new and unusual is phenomenal.”

In the summer of 2018, Groupa performed in concert together with Ingfrid Breie Nyhus and Guro Kvifte Nesheim at the chamber music festival Musik i Äppelriket.

In the same year, Groupa continued exploring and reinventing Nordic folk music on their eleventh album, Kind of Folk – Vol. 2 Norway.

Ever since the start, Groupa has been a very popular live band. The band tours Sweden, Scandinavia and Europe extensively, and has appeared at the following festivals: Roskilde Festival, Musik over Præstö fjord – Denmark, Folk Festival Dranouter and Gooikoorts – Belgium, Jazz & Heritage festival New Orleans, Nordic Roots Festival, Minneapolis – USA, Folk Alliance, Vancouver – Canada, Pontardawe and Wadebridge – UK, Leipzig Tanzhausfest, Rudolstadt Folk Festival and folkBaltica – Germany, Violin and Village Festival in Maramures – Romania, Festival Porta in Riga – Latvia, Kaustinen Folk Festival and Haapavesi Folk Festival – Finland, Falun Folk Music Festival, Stockholm Water festival, Urkult vid Nämforsen, Hultsfredsfestivalen, Korrö-stämman, Linköpings folkmusikfestival – Sweden and many others. Groupa has also toured India.