ANE BRUN has announced details of a brand new single, 'DON'T RUN AND HIDE', which will be released by her label, Balloon Ranger Recordings. It's the first taste of her as-yet-untitled eighth studio album, which will represent her first of original material since 2015's acclaimed When I'm Free, which took her Top Five in both her native Norway and her adopted homeland of Sweden. Due in stores this autumn, it follows 2017's exquisite collection of cover versions, Leave Me Breathless. BRUN embarks on a lengthy European tour in October.
'DON'T RUN AND HIDE' was the first track written specifically for the new album, and it finds BRUN offering support to someone in a dark place, encouraging them not to isolate themselves: "Don't run and hide," she sings with trademark compassion, "Take a peek outside/ I'm here for you." Like some of When I'm Free, the emotionally charged song reflects BRUN's love for trip hop, but also nods to contemporary acts including SiR, Kendrick Lamar,
Anderson Paak and
Solange for inspiration. "I wanted this to 'stand on the shoulders' of When I'm Free," she explains, "and kind of look across over Leave Me Breathless and beyond. The key to our vision was emotional music that also makes you want to move."
A shape-shifting tune distinguished by a haunting, eastern-tinged melody and gently swelling strings, 'DON'T RUN AND HIDE' is founded upon a simple premise. "Many of the songs I like are based around a single bassline that repeats itself," BRUN explains, "yet the melody remains accessible and interesting throughout. That's as true of the old baroque arias I've covered by Purcell ('Dido's Lament', 'Laid in Earth') and Monteverdi ('Lamento Della Ninfa (Oh Love)') as of Beyoncé's 'Halo'. It brings a sense of boundlessness I find liberating."
Produced by BRUN alongside Anton Sundell (co-producer, Leave Me Breathless) and long-term collaborator Martin Hederos, the song also features Hederos on keyboards as well as Samuel Starck (synth), Anna Lund (drums, percussion), Per Eklund (drums, percussion) and Isabel (triangle). Strings were arranged by Daniel Migdal, and the album was mixed and mastered by Grammy and Mercury-nominated Prash 'Engine-Earz' Mistry, with whom Brun also wrote 'The Light From One', included on 2011's It All Starts With One.
As is typical with BRUN, who rarely repeats herself, her tour later this year will find her performing with a new configuration of musicians. "I've played with three of them - Per Eklund (drums), Martin Hederos (keyboards), Johan Lindström (keyboards, pedal steel, guitars) - a lot," she elaborates, "but this time we'll be joined by three new members: Felisia Westberg (bass), Lovisa Samuelsson (cello, percussion) and Øyunn (drums). I want to keep the energy from 2016's Directions tour and build on it, but also find space for the softer side of me. Plus, of course, there'll be a couple of covers!"
Though this will be her first full tour since those Directions outings, the years since When I'm Free have not been quiet. Having underlined her reputation as a masterful interpreter with Leave Me Breathless, BRUN has continued to play occasional band shows promoting both records, as well as more extravagant, ambitious, collaborative concerts. These included around a dozen performances across Scandinavia with a variety of symphony orchestras - the
Stockholm shows, with the Swedish Radio
Symphony Orchestra, are immortalised in 2018's Live at Berdwardhallen - as well as a handful of memorable events devoted to the Leave Me Breathless collection, not least a sold-out 2018 show at Oslo's Spektrum Arena, which was filmed for cinema release. In addition, she was invited to perform at the 2017 Nobel Prize Dinner and the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, not to mention the 2017 Polar Music Prize Ceremony, where she sang 'Why Should I Cry For You' in front of its author, that year's winner, Sting. She also returned to Stockholm's Berwaldhallen for three shows with the Swedish Radio Choir in 2019.
Brun has also made a number of guest appearances with other acts, including one with Oscar-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer Dustin O'Halloran (A Winged
Victory For The Sullen), with whom she wrote 'Horizons', the closing theme for the movie Puzzle, starring Kelly Macdonald. She's also contributed music to further films and TV shows, including 2018's Becoming Astrid and 2019's Hidden, and sang on an animated children's movie, Alfons Åberg.
As if this weren't enough, following the 2015 UK Top 5 hit (and Dance Chart No. 1) which she co-wrote with Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto, 'Can't Stop Playing (Makes Me High)', she's been co-writing with Grammy Award-winning producer Andrew Bayer, and has released a number of covers online, as well as her first original Christmas song, 2019's 'The First Day of Christmas'.
ANE BRUN's 2020 tour lines up as follows:
October
01 - Helsingfors Savoy Teater
03 - Västerås Konserthuset
10 - Malmö Malmö Live!
14 - Stockholm Cirkus
16 - Uppsala UKK
20 - Bergen Grieghallen-Peer Gynt
21 - Stavanger Stavanger Konserthus-Zetlitz
23 - Oslo Sentrum Scene
24 - Oslo Sentrum Scene
25 - Trondheim Olavhallen
November
04 - Vienna VUK
05 - Munich Technikum
06 - Switzerland Bierhubeli
08 - Switzerland Rote Fabrik
09 - Frankfurt
Capitol
10 - Cologne Carlswerk
12 -
Berlin Metropol
13 - Hamburg Fabrik
20 - Copehagen Store Vega
22 -
The Hague Paard
23 - Groningen Oosterport
25 - Nijmegen Doornroosje
26 -
Amsterdam Melkweg
27 - Brussels Orangerie
28 - Paris Alhambra
December
06 - Dublin Vicar St
08 - Glasgow St Luke's
09 - Manchester Academy 2
10 - London Shepherds Bush Empire
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