Without any doubt, SIVERT HØYEM has one of the most distinctive and charismatic voices in the music business. One of these voices that instantly crawl beneath your skin. It has been this way ever since legendary alternative rockers MADRUGADA showed up in the late 90s. And even after the band’s end, HØYEM remained a solid force in the Scandinavian music scene. His fifth album Endless Love has already been released in his home country, now it will see a global release by the end of May.
Just the right time to have a closer look on the music that inspired this unique artist. For NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION SIVERT HØYEM opens up about his true all-time favourites. The songs that shaped him as an artist and probably also as a human being. And we wouldn’t be surprised if some of these songs aren’t played in the musician’s tour bus as he is about to go on a concert series soon. NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION presents the following dates of it.
25.05.2014 – DE – Hamburg, Knust
26.05.2014 – DE – Frankfurt, Das Bett
27.05.2014 – DE – Berlin, Heimathafen
But now enjoy a journey into the musical heart and soul of SIVERT HØYEM as he talks about some of his seven favourite songs on the following pages.
01. 13th Floor Elevators – ‘Dust’
For a long time this was the favorite tune of all the members of my old band, Madrugada. I remember hearing it for the first time on our tour bus back in 2000. It has an elevated and mysterious quality to it that puzzles me to this day.
02. R.E.M. – ‘Country Feedback’
Easily R.E.M.’s finest moment, rivaled only, perhaps, by ‘World Leader Pretend’. Michael Stipe’s voice has such a desperate quality here. I like the way the intensity builds in his vocal, but isn’t really reflected in any of the other instruments, it makes it so powerful. It has a lot of the mystery of the 13th Floor Elevators song, clearly that band influenced R.E.M. early on.
03. Mark Lanegan Band – ‘Harborview Hospital’
He has such a presence as a singer. I totally loved ‘Blues Funeral’, and this song to my ears, is one of the best on that record. It reminds me a bit of WIRE and OMD, that 80s thing, but hearing Lanegan’s weathered voice on top of a track like this turns it into something entirely different.
04. Bruce Springsteen – ‘Downbound Train’
This is the first rock music I can remember hearing after THE BEATLES, it was a profound experience. This is still one of my all time favorite songs. He played it at his show in Oslo last year, and I cried. I was drunk, but still…
05. Smog – ‘River Guard’
Bill Callahan was a huge influence for many years, and this was the first song I ever heard. He is such an original and poetic lyricist.
06. AMON DÜÜL II – ‘Archangel’s Thunderbird’
A timeless classic. It could have been recorded yesterday. Renate Knaup sang on my previous album, and we have stayed in touch since then. Amon Düül to me are like no one else, they’re up there with Zeppelin and the Stones, Germany should be proud to have a band like that.
07. Wire – ‘Ahead’
I had been listening to WIRE before, but I discovered ‘The Ideal Copy’ while working on the new album. This dancy number is the opening track of that album. It goes on and on, and it never really changes, but the groove is so great it doesn’t really matter. Great melody too. Wire always knew to throw in a good pop song with all their angular experiments. Absolutely brilliant.
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