Legendary folk/heavy rock band Garmarna are back after a considerable lag, finally able to release an album that’s been a long time in the making.
“I’m very glad that we are releasing the album,” says vocalist Emma Härdelin of their latest record, Förbundet, out now via Season of Mist. “We were supposed to release it already in June, but then it was cancelled, and we were worried it wasn’t going to release this year, so it feels like we’ve been delayed already. It feels good to actually release the album, although we can’t do a big concert release.”
In fact, the waiting for Förbundet has been longer than just since June. The band have been playing these songs on the road for about 20 years, testing them on audiences, and the songs have changed and evolved over time.
All along, the plan was to wait for the right time to release a collection of traditional material. With Förbundet, Garmarna revisit the medieval ballads and traditional folk songs they originally started out with back in the ’90s.
“We have been traveling with these songs for quite a while, and some of these tunes, we’ve been saving them for the right album where they would fit,” Härdelin says. “And so, when we released our previous album, we decided to put all the traditional material to the side and save it, because we felt like it would be good to have an all-traditional record.”
In the studio, the band were finally able to put the songs onto a recording, ironing out kinks and adding in exciting new elements in the process.
“Things change all the time with the songs during the recording process, because maybe we play it all together, decide on the form, and then someone has a suggestion or adds in something new,” Härdelin says.
Garmarna are beyond excited to finally see these songs hit the shelves, and though Härdelin has been able to perform live with some of her more traditional vocal projects in Sweden, she knows a live tour with Garmana is not currently in the cards, and isn’t sure about the idea of doing a livestream.
“Right now, we’re discussing if we should do something on the release date, but we don’t really know yet,” she admits. “We’re not going to play live, but we may play life, or be live and talk. But we’ll see.”
Check out Garmarna’s latest, Förbundet, and make sure to stay tuned for news of a livestream, more music, or future plans.
Pick up a copy here.
