Dagny releases her debut album “Strangers/Lovers”
Norwegian cult pop icon Dagny has released her debut album “Strangers/Lovers”. After writing over 250 songs in sessions and studios around the world, Dagny Norvoll Sandvik entered Livingroom Studios in Oslo in the fall of 2019 to finish work on her debut album. Now she’s finally ready to showcase the body of work she has long dreamed of releasing.
Wanting to have a common theme present on the album as she began to sort through the many songs she’d written, it soon became clear that it was the songs from the last 18 months that were going to shape the record. “It was like the last 10 years of songwriting and emotion were summed up in the songs from the last 18 months. I chose the songs that were clearly telling a story”, Dagny explains. The songs that were chosen all had a clear theme, but Dagny felt like there were two sides to the story – which ultimately became the catalyst for the idea of dividing the album into two parts; Side A and Side B.
As the theme of the album became clearer, “Strangers/Lovers” began to feel more and more like a concept album. “When it became clear that there were two sides that were in contrast to one another, it felt right to let people digest them one part at a time”, Dagny continued. That first part makes up Side A, a collection of six songs that showcase Dagny’s growth as an artist and her focused creative vision. Lead single “Come Over” opens the album with a suggestive wink, the ballsy lyrics and bouncing production an invitation that’s impossible to turn down.
“Shoulda Woulda Coulda” has a similar feeling of vitality, the clipped beats and singsong melodies converging for a chorus that blasts out like a thrilling rush like when you let go of your inhibitions. The album’s second single, “Somebody”, sees Dagny follow in the footsteps of artists like Robyn, Susanne Sundfør and Taylor Swift as she achieves pop perfection. The track, written with Rat City, is pure euphoria, with Dagny proclaiming her love for her partner over shimmering synths and huge propulsive beats.
“Strangers/Lovers” isn’t all uppers, though, and on “Paris” and “Tension”, Dagny showcases the textures in her songwriting. “There will be times in life when you feel really happy and you desperately want to hang on to that. But then there will be times when you feel down and you worry that you’ll feel that way forever” she says.
“Of course, neither of those feelings last forever. They come in waves. I am a person that is full of contrasts and if I make a song that is just happy with no tension in it, it doesn’t feel right. But I’ll never make songs that are 100% sad, bitchy or bitter. There’s always a hopefulness to it. Creating an album is a completely different process to writing individual songs,” Dagny adds. “It was challenging working on such a comprehensive project, but it has also been the most exciting thing I’ve ever worked on. I’ve loved everything from the visual design and the intense period in the studio, to finally finishing it all. It will be nice to showcase something coherent and show more sides to me”.
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