Norwegian singer/songwriter Sara Fjeldvær’s sophomore album ‘Stars’ takes listeners on a journey through warm introspections on love, relations, and finding light in the world around them.

Stream: ‘Stars’ – Sara Fjeldvær

**Sara Fjeldvær is a must-watch Norwegian artist breathing a breath of fresh air on the indie folk scene with her sophomore album Stars.**

From a small farm outside the city of Trondheim, Fjeldvær developed an 11-track record reminiscent of the impactfulness of Brandi Charlile’s 2007 The Story and Wild Rivers’ 2016 Wild Rivers. Her use of well-placed vocal runs, multi-layered guitar tracks, and dramatic strings lend the album a grounded feeling from start to finish.

Stars is out now on all streaming platforms, featuring breakout titles “The Way You Love Me,” “Meant to Love,” and “We All Know All Too Well.” Fjeldvær’s self-titled debut album and Stars were recorded in Nyhavna Studio in Trondheim with producer and studio engineer Mathias Angelhus.

Sara Fjeldvær sat down with Atwood Magazine to dive into Stars and offer an inside look into the creative process of developing her second album.

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:: stream/purchase Stars here ::

:: connect with Sara Fjeldvær here ::

Stream: “Meant to Love” – Sara Fjeldvær

A CONVERSATION WITH SARA FJELDVÆR

Atwood Magazine: When thinking of your album, what are three words that come to mind when you're describing your newest piece?

Sara Fjeldvær: Stars is one of the words…because it just appeared in the lyrics [so often]. I think love, and maybe relations, because I have different relationships that I describe in some of the songs. [I see Stars as a series] of love songs, and heartbreak songs of not just… romantic love, but also… this is more for the people I’ve always known, like my best friends and my family. So love, stars, and relations.

I could tell the labor of love that went into each track, and I want to hear your perspective on this. Can you walk me through your creative process when developing the album?

Sara Fjeldvær: I’m in a place which is way outside of town [Trondheim, Norway], because I’m working at a farm here, and when I’m when I wrote the album, many of the songs I wrote were here. People say the second album is hard, but for me, I felt like the bar wasn’t even set for what I could do! I was so eager to do something more, to make more music.

I started making [a large volume of] songs…and then picking out what felt right…what felt like what was happening right now, and then, finding what came together. And yeah, since I had a breakup that affected a lot of things….I tried to collect the songs that felt best and felt connected to each other, and I think, that’s why stars became a theme for the whole [album]. I kept writing about stars, apparently, and I didn’t notice until I put them all together, and that was the thing I always came back to.

What was your favorite 'aha' moment was when creating the album?

Sara Fjeldvær: I think the ‘aha!’ moment was realizing that I’ve written so many things about stars, I mean, I have many other songs as well with stars in it [as well]. So that was maybe an ‘aha’ moment. I think when writing music, and making a record, the ‘aha’ moment usually comes when I present it to the band, because my band is very personal, and we’re a very tight group of friends who’ve been playing for a long time. So, I think the ‘aha’ moment is also bringing it to them, sewing it all together, and finding a sound for it. It’s so much about the music that they contribute.

So I think rehearsing with them, going into the studio, having a great producer, and shaping it all [is that moment]. I try to carve the stone and then we finish it together making it smooth, nice, and beautiful. I think that’s one of my favorite processes besides writing the songs.

Tell us about your inspiration for the cover art of Stars?

Sara Fjeldvær: Initially, I thought about having a black cover…[my thought was] having a photo shoot where it’s dark because that is something I’ve always done with covers. That’s like it’s been. I felt when the record was done that this was light. It just felt more light, and the the feel of it. So, I had to change something, and I talked to a friend who was a photographer and asked if he could make like a starry sky while it’s daylight.

Growing up on an island, the experience is very close to me, so that always feels right. I was just walking through [Trondheim] when I’m watching the river and when the sun shines, you know, it gets these sparkles. I was like, of course. there you have it, that’s the stars I need…So, yeah, I thought about having it dark, but it just had to be lighter, because I feel like there’s a lot of hope and my songs, and in the song in the album itself.

I loved the song 'The Way You Love Me' on the album. Can you tell me the story behind creating this song and why you chose it as the last track?

Sara Fjeldvær: This song just felt like love to me. I just had to write a song about love because in the year writing, I’d never felt as much love or being, you know, in love. I had to try to put it into words and music, whatever I was feeling.

I sat with my synthesizer and I made the arpeggio and pressed record on my phone. I played just the arpeggio, just sang, and then all the words, I just kept everything. It just came to me very naturally and then that was just a long part of me singing about how I love somebody, and then felt like I had to land with it. Then I just went into that, you know, groovy Americana kind of vibe and just [kept] going on.

I wrote a poem of trying to describe what I felt and what love felt like…and then the crescendo is just the love coming up to the surface again. So it was just a natural process…of hearing love coming up to the surface.”

I still can’t believe the wayYou love meTender and heartfelt just like you know howA glimpse of truth and a bottle of joyIn every moment, from that day til nowA whole lot of tears, salty and sweetI’d fill a cup but it’s in my meatFeel it swimming round my blood and down to my feetSome kind of holy wine, running upwards my spineSeeping out to the world and somehow alignThe starsThe stars

What do you want the audience to take away from the most after listening to your album?

Sara Fjeldvær: I think, as an artist and as a performer… it’s not so much about giving something to someone, it’s more about opening something and just wanting people to absorb and maybe just feel something. This is the power of art and music for me. It can make me. It can inspire me. And, I think what to me is inspiration is what to others, maybe just bliss.

I just want, if it’s the music, I want the music to touch you in a way…It gives somewhat of a feeling. I don’t want people to sit and think too much I want the music to do the work.

Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?

Sara Fjeldvær: I think my advice would be to just do something! Put out your music, be respectful, and care about the musicality of it…Follow inspiration and follow the music in you. That’s the main thing, and then nothing else matters.

After Stars, what can fans look forward to from you?

Sara Fjeldvær: “We’re going on tour [this month in March]. It’s so fun! [Hopefully] a couple of great concerts in Norway and I’m excited that there’s a lot of strings on this album. We’re going to have strings on one of the release concerts which I’m very very excited about. And yeah, it’s gonna be beautiful.”

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It was a pleasure to speak with Sara Fjeldvær this winter, and we highly recommend to add this album to your “fresh finds” playlist of 2024. For more information on upcoming tour dates or how to stream Stars, please visit sarafjeldvaer.bandcamp.com/music!

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