Silver Lining

Bringing together members of two prominent Norwegian acts, The Northern Belle and Louien, folky americana quartet Silver Lining have sometimes been dubbed a super group in their native country. Moving on from the sound of their mostly acoustic debut, the band introduces a broader americana sound on their sophomore album, Go Out Nowhere. With a widescreen, heartland sound and a groovy backbone, reminiscent of Aaron Lee Tasjan, Erin Rae or The Band.

Consisting of four instrumentalists, three of them also singer-songwriters, Silver Lining debuted with the low-key and mellow Heart and Mind Alike in 2018. The album was well received in the band’s home country, and reached a much wider audience, thanks to several “streaming hits” reaching millions of plays.

A telling illustration of the thriving Norwegian americana scene, is the musicians’ willingness to collaborate – on stage, on each other’s records, and in new constellations. One early example is the birth of Silver Lining. Bringing together members of then-emerging The Northern Belle, and the now defunct Rattlers, the musicians came together for a Gillian Welch tribute show in 2015. They quickly discovered that this project had potential outside of playing cover songs, and quickly started rehearsing and writing.

The angelic voices of Stine Andreassen and Live Miranda Solberg fit perfectly with the rougher, dylanesque voice of Halvor Falck Johansen. The three singers’ acoustic guitar interplay is interwoven with and elevated by Bjørnar Ekse Brandseth’s electric guitars, pedal steel and dobro.

One thing is evident is at least; the creativity is overflowing in the band’s two main songwriters. Since Silver Lining’s debut came out in 2018, Stine Andreassen has released three albums as frontwoman and songwriter in The Northern Belle. In the same time frame, Live Miranda Solberg released two records under her solo moniker Louien.

Silver Lining’s new album consists of 10 new songs, written with a slightly more positive outlook than before. And where the debut was sparsely produced, with mostly acoustic instrumentation, Go Out Nowhere expands the band’s sound significantly. Working with rhythm section Chris Holm (bass) and Kim Åge Furuhaug (drums) of popular instrumental trio Orions Belte, has brought a steady groove to Silver Lining’s brand of americana. Encouraged by producer Yngve Sætre, the band have been more playful in the studio, introducing new ideas and instruments whenever it felt right.