“I wanted it to be something very different from Leprous,” says Einar Solberg. Vox Occulta, his second solo album, finds the singer crafting the most cinematic music of his career, and even recording with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra on four of the record’s eight songs.
“The direction that Leprous is going is entirely different,” says Solberg. “Leprous has a lot of space in the music; it’s all about subtleties in the musicianship. You need to be an experienced musician to notice those subtleties.
“Whereas this solo project is more about raw and pure emotion and it’s very cinematic. I put more time into the composition than into the musicianship, basically.”
Alongside The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Vox Occulta features Bent Knee violinist Chris Baum, Icelandic drummer Keli Guðjónsson from Agent Fresco, Novelists’ Pierre Danel handling most of the guitar work, and bassist Jed Lingat from Ben Levin Group. “These are people I’ve toured with before; they’re friends of mine,” Solberg says.
Comparing the new release to its predecessor, 16, the singer reports there are shared elements, but that Vox Occulta has a clearer vision. He describes the debut release as “an album that’s very versatile and also a bit schizophrenic.”
He continues: “It was very playful; there’s kind of a hip-hop track there with some rapping – something I would never do now. I just wanted to try a lot of different things and test the waters. For Vox Occulta I thought, ‘OK, this is what I want this project to be, and that’s it.
“That feels a bit liberating. The opportunities are always countless with what you can do within music, but to have some guidelines is good – without letting that become too suffocating, of course.”
Solberg will take Vox Occulta on the road, launching his first solo tour with a full band in London at The Garage on September 18, followed by a run through Europe that includes a performance at Be Prog! My Friend in Spain.
“It’s going to be quite a big band for the tour,” he says. “I’m not going to say who’s playing, but I’m planning to have at least two string players, two guitar players, keyboardist, drummer, bass player – quite a big project.”
He adds one caveat, noting that he’s learned from his experiences promoting 16. “I’m a lot more pragmatic. Last time, even when I got pretty good fees for the shows, I lost money on everything I did. I was thinking so idealistically – ‘This is how I want it to be’ – but at the same time, these are session musicians. I can’t afford this amount of musicians each time.”
The plan for the Vox Occulta tour is to match the players to the gig: “I’ll bring whoever I can afford for whatever offer I get. I’m going to play as much as I can, honestly, and you’re going to see different people on each show. You never know what exactly you’ll see.”
None of that means that Leprous are being mothballed. “I want and I need those projects to coexist peacefully,” he says. “When I’ve been doing the solo project for too long, I get super-tired and bored of it; when I’m doing Leprous for too long, I get bored of it.
“I need a lot of variation in my life – and now I’ve got it.”
Vox Occulta is on sale now via InsideOut.
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