Having played on more than 300 albums with a wide range of artists from different genres, and with four solo albums to his name, drummer ERLAND DAHLEN is set to release his fifth studio album “Racoons” on Is It Jazz? Records on the 27th October.
Obviously, being so much in demand on such a wide variety of collaborations and sessions, it is clear that Dahlen is an artist with considerable skills, who is sensitive to the requirements of other musicians, and who is well able to adapt those skills to whatever the music requires. However, he is also a renowned solo artist with his own creative ideas, and who, by using a multitude of percussive instruments, is able to create a massive, intricately layered sound, that is all his own.
Over the years, Dahlen had accumulated so many musical ideas that didn’t fit in with any other projects, and he grew to realise that he needed a project that would allow him to record and play live for himself.
Originally the plan had been to release just one solo album, 2012’s “Rolling Bomber”. However, since then this solo work has grown in importance for Dahlen, so much so, in fact, that for “Racoons” he actually made and used a lot of unique instruments, as he explains:
I play a lot of custom-made instruments here. Lars Hurlen has built different log drums for the album, and Harald Hougaard has built a custom-made zither bass. I also use custom-made chromatic blossom bells, and different metal items, such as huge serving plates.
Those eager to find out the kind of sound that these create ahead of the full-album release, can do so with the track “Foggy”, which can be streamed or downloaded from a variety of services at
https://link.isitjazzrecords.no/ErlandDahlen_Foggy
Dahlen had this to say about the track:
“Foggy” starts off with a drum groove that moves across a drum machine beat. The idea was to let the groove evolve and gradually add more elements in a repetitive drone-like landscape.
“Racoons” was recorded with Bjarte Stensli in March 2023 at the Rainbow Studio in Oslo, with additional recording and mix by Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard W. Hagen from Xploding Plastix.
With cover art by Tom Korsvold, tracklisting on “Racoons” is as follows:
- Sun Pt. 1
- Stride
- Auto
- Slow
- Mud
- Foggy
- Sun Pt. 2
“Racoons” will be available in CD, Digital and LP formats, and can now be pre-ordered from:
Bandcamp: https://erlanddahlen.bandcamp.com/album/racoons
Webshop: https://isitjazzrecords.no/shop/
Dahlen has received numerous industry awards for the albums on which he has appeared, including 13 Spelleman Awards, having been nominated an extraordinary total of 38 times. He can also be found behind the drumkit of a number of Norwegian and International film scores.
Some of the artists with whom he has played, either live or in the studio, include Norwegian Jazz legends such as NILS PETTER MOLVÆR, EIVIND AARSET, STIAN WESTERHUS and GEIR SUNDSTØL, together with bands and artists such as MADRUGADA, KAADA, JOHN PAUL JONES, ANE BRUN, ANNELI DRECKER, MARIT LARSEN and XPLODING PLASTIX, along with a host of others!
More information about ERLAND DAHLEN can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063804630105 and https://www.facebook.com/erland.dahlen or on the Artist Page at https://isitjazzrecords.no/artists/erland-dahlen/
Additional Information
Erland Dahlen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063804630105
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erland.dahlen
Artist Page: https://isitjazzrecords.no/artists/erland-dahlen/
Band Contact: erlanddahlen@gmail.com
Is it Jazz? Records
Website: https://isitjazzrecords.no/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsItJazzRecords/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isitjazzrecords/
Contact: post@isitjazzrecords.no
PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT 