Copenhagen-based singer/songwriter Fie Eike speaks about the healing power of nature in her ocean-inspired debut album, ‘Water.’

Stream: “Sad” – Fie Eike

With Norwegian roots, singer/songwriter Fie Eike was born and raised in Denmark, where she currently resides in Copenhagen.

Nature has played a huge role throughout her life, whether it be the Danish forest or Norwegian fjords and mountains, ultimately weaving its way into the music she creates today. Her fascination with nature and the magical power it beholds is evident in her debut album, Water, a twelve-track release which delves into how water symbolizes healing and transformation.

“Water is an album about the existential wisdom of the water and the oceans,” Fie Eike tells Atwood Magazine. “The album tells a sonic tale about standing on the shore looking out onto the great depths of the ocean, as a symbol of the subconscious, knowing that the only way to heal, transform and emerge as a free and true expression of oneself, is to venture into the unknown and to explore and inhabit all of our feelings and underlying motivations and fears. To let the water wash away everything that is no longer needed, in order to move from a state of fluidity to assuming form. Exploring the place where true connection, love, light and creation begins.”

Life as we know it exists because of water; without our oceans, nothing on Earth would survive. The ocean reflects our lives in many ways—its depths, much like our own emotions, are vast and largely unexplored. Its beauty and power demand respect, as it holds a magical quality that is both healing and transformative.

The album mirrors the ocean in its sound, capturing its ebb and flow.

At times, the music is soft and calm, while other moments are filled with overwhelming emotion. Just like the sea, it’s unpredictable, with each song offering something unique. The mix of sounds and textures creates an almost meditative experience, even incorporating recordings of water and the ocean from various locations across Denmark to deepen the connection to nature.

Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Fie Eike’s Water with Atwood Magazine as she takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her debut album!

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:: stream/purchase Water here ::

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Stream: ‘Water’ – Fie Eike

:: Inside Water ::

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“Free”

“Only the water will set me free,” Fie Eike sings acapella on the album’s opening track “Free.” A prelude to a journey of transformation through the existential wisdom of the water and the oceans as a metaphor for the subconscious.

“The Nile”

Inspired by nature, “The Nile” encapsulates the feeling of entering into a dark forest on your own or plunging into cold dark waters where you cannot see what hides beneath the surface. “The Nile” invites the listener on a journey to overcome fears and explore darkness with presence, curiosity and eyes wide open, whilst also encouraging us to understand that darkness is not only something to fear but something that holds great potential for presence, reflection, light and magic. According to Fie Eike, exploring darkness in nature can inspire us to explore and embrace the darkness in ourselves and in life, by accepting and being present with the discomfort and fear that the darkness may produce, while at the same time being curious and open to the wonder, beauty and potential it holds.

“It is my experience, that daring to explore the darkness and being present with it, not only expands our capacity for darkness but also expands our capacity for light, happiness and joy. In the end, there is no light without darkness and no love without fear,” Eike shares.

“Fluid”

“Fluid” explores the feeling or state of “fluidity,” where we lose the connection to ourselves and our core because we “over-adapt” in order to fit in, and our boundaries become fluid in our existential pursuit of belonging. “Being flexible and able to adapt can be a positive and important skill. But in the context of our existential need for community and belonging, it can sometimes become a weakness, if we adapt too much and lose our sense of self in order to fit in or do what we think others expect of us,” Eike explains.

She elaborates: “The need for belonging is a basic human instinct and it is a very beautiful thing, as long as we don’t lose ourselves in the quest for it. Because the paradox is, that in order to belong or experience true connectedness and love, we must first belong to ourselves and have a sense of separateness that allows both ourselves and others to see us clearly.”

Musically and lyrically, “Fluid” is set in a beautiful underwater world of wonder. But it is also a world of extreme “fluidity” in the sense that everything is blurry and undefined with no clear boundaries and poor conditions for real connection. There is an existential longing for belonging, not just a longing for love and community, but a longing for connection to one self – for assuming form and a true self expression. Part of the inspiration for the soundscape for “Fluid” came from one of Eike’s favorite fairy tales, ‘The Little Mermaid’ by Hans Christian Andersen.

“The Water”

Imagine standing by the sea, looking out onto the great depths, about to take the plunge, without knowing what hides beneath the surface. “The Water” explores what happens when we let go of control and surrender to the unknown and our subconscious.

“I think most people are afraid of losing control in some way. This is somehow an existential premise, because letting go means facing our vulnerability and ultimately our mortality,” Fie Eike explains.

For Eike, water and the ocean is a metaphor for the subconscious, and holds profound existential and emotional wisdom. It moves us, shapes us, expands us and grounds us in the present moment. At the same time, it offers us a space for reflection, healing and transformation that brings us closer to our truest expression of who we are by washing away all that is no longer needed.

“Sad”

A powerful and raw piano ballad that calls for emotional sustainability as a prerequisite for a deeper and more meaningful relationship to ourselves and the world around us.

“Sad” is an expression of sadness about the emotional wounds we humans cause ourselves and others, often unknowingly, when we fail to take responsibility for our challenging emotions such as sadness or anger, but instead avoid them, numb ourselves or project them onto others.

The raw and sparse expression and composition is inspired by nature on the North West Coast of Denmark by the North Sea. Nature there is very raw, sparse and temperamental especially during the winter months, with strong winds and large powerful waves that continue to shape the coastline, while the wide sandy beaches, the sky and the ocean melt into each other, becoming one. For me “Sad” and our deepest emotions have a similar movement as the powerful yet vulnerable sensibility and volatility of nature. Just like the waves washing away all footprints and traces in the sand over time, the connection to our challenging emotions and tears can help us heal our wounds over time.

“Zero”

“Zero” expresses the starting point of a journey of transformation. Prepared to explore new and unfamiliar spaces within and externally. With an open mind, hope, curiosity, courage and a willingness to face whatever challenges appear along the way. And with a deep inner knowing, that change is inevitable and that the only way to heal, transform and emerge as a free and true expression of oneself, is to venture into the unknown and to explore and inhabit all of our feelings and underlying motivations and fears.

“Sum”

“Sum” means “to be” in Latin. And the instrumental piano track is exactly that. A musical meditation and an invitation to be in the present moment. Composed by Eike on an afternoon when sitting by the piano, improvising and feeling a sense of grounding and connectedness through the slowness of the melody, allowing simplicity and letting the notes linger, allowing their resonance to move into the next notes, into the next moment. Just like a wave informing the next wave.  The breath informing the next breath. Into the present moment.

“The Wave”

“The Wave” is a sonic portrait of a wave from the inside. “Close your eyes and dive deep down under, the wave” Eike whispers, before the wave comes. “The Wave” is a sound installation or even a sound meditation for the listener to connect deeper with the water and the ocean. It was made out of water sounds recorded by Eike in different locations across Denmark and in her studio in Copenhagen. In 2023,  ‘The Wave’ was exhibited as a sound installation as part of the group art exhibition Vision I ‘På Vandet’ (meaning ‘On the water’) at Radar in Sønderborg, Denmark.

“Deep End”

‘Deep End’ explores the depths of the ocean as a metaphor for our individual and collective subconscious. According to Fie Eike, the depths of our subconscious are not only a place of darkness, melancholy and mystery. It also holds infinite wisdom, great beauty and the universal life force from which all life, light and creation springs. “Deep End” invites the listener on an inner journey of discovery through the depths of the ocean and the subconscious in a mesmerizing, ethereal realm of beauty, melancholy, darkness and light. The production weaves an intricate art-pop electronica tapestry from piano, electronic textures and rhythms paired with Fie Eike’s raw, powerful yet vulnerable vocals and spellbinding siren calls.

“The ocean mirrors life and its existential themes and universal principles about the connectedness of all things. The movements on the surface above reflect the movements in the depths below just like the human psyche and our surroundings. We cannot insist on living on the surface alone or only in the depths below, but instead we must learn to integrate it all.

“Winter’s Night”

“Winter’s Night” is a vulnerable and breathtaking piano ballad with strong vocals and great emotional depth, that explores water in the form of snow, and  the softness and emotional impact of the soft blue light of winter in the Norwegian mountain landscapes, and the space between darkness and light. The song is an ode to the beautiful dark winter months in the Nordics. It was inspired by the painting ‘Winter Night in the Mountains’ by famous Norwegian painter Harald Sohlberg. Eike wrote the song after seeing the painting in real life for the first time. “The painting resonated deeply within my soul and I went home and wrote the song that same day,” Eike shares.

“Omrids”

“Omrids” is an instrumental neo-classical piano single with electronic textures created out of warped piano sounds. It  was inspired by The North Sea. Omrids means outline in Danish, and the track explores the process of assuming form as an individual, with a clear outline and true expression that connects and shapes us and our surroundings, inspired by how the waves of the ocean shape the coastline over time, leaving patterns of its outlines in the sand.

“Omrids II”

“Omrids II” elaborates further on “Omrids” expressing the way our outline as humans is what separates us and connects us to ourselves, others and the world around us, and how our outline impacts our surroundings over time just like the waves of the ocean shapes the shoreline over time. It is an expression of assuming form, and manifesting as a clear and true expression of oneself. In this sense “Omrids” and “Omrids II” conclude the sonic tale of Water (the album). Assuming form after a process of transformation and healing – resurfacing and assuming form as an individual through a deep connection to the nature of water and oceans.

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:: stream/purchase Water here ::

:: connect with Fie Eike here ::

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 © Asia Werbel

Water

an album by Fie Eike