Ole Michael Bjørndal’s progressive rock project Caligonaut has released the single “Because we are not apart” on Apollon Records. The song is the first new music from Norway’s Caligonaut following the highly acclaimed debut solo album “Magnified as Giants” in February 2021.
“I was really humbled and thankful when I saw the response the album was receiving, and almost felt that I could not express enough gratitude. Making this song became a vessel to channel my gratitude. It is in the same musical landscape as the album, but also represents a development and new elements. I am quite certain that if you liked the album, you will thoroughly enjoy this song.”
“Because we are not apart” reunites Bjørndal with performers from the album, notably Kristian Hultgren and Andreas W.S. Prestmo from Wobbler, Åsa Ree from Meer and Wobbler and Arild Brøter from Pymlico, but he also brings in some new names: keyboard player Christian Holberg Heggen, who co-wrote the music, church organist Thøstur Eirikson and renowned cellist Bjørn Solum.
“All these new people are neighbors that I met during Covid. Life is quite funny sometimes. We are on social lockdown, but still, you meet people with exceptional skills. Turns out, I have a brilliant keyboard player and world-class cellist as neighbors.”
Solum used a unique, priceless cello made in Venice in 1744 on the recording. He arranged three cello voices for the song. “When rehearsing, he started telling me about the story of the instrument, and my jaw dropped. Chopin and Mendelsohn have listened to their music being performed on this cello, and it is an ongoing discussion about whether it was heard by Beethoven himself. When he spoke, historical events were moving around in my mind. And with the events in Ukraine, where we see classical performers playing their instruments in bombed buildings, the whole thing has taken on a new dimension for me. Music and art cannot be destroyed by wars and madmen. Humanity will probably forever have to fight people like Putin or Hitler, who only accept their own sick version of civilization, but at the same time, musical notes, instruments, and performers will always pull through and remind us of values worth fighting for and the beauty of human creativity.”
Bjørndal describes the song as a calm meditation that then builds, almost like a short story, towards a powerful ending. The first part is heavy on the pastoral side, featuring cello, violin, piano and an acoustic guitar in Robert Fripp’s New Standard Tuning under Bjørndal’s vocals.
The symphonic progressive rock elements with solos and organs come in strongly towards the end. The song also contains several beautiful vocal harmonies arranged by Wobbler members Prestmo and Ree. The music was written together with keyboardist Christian Holberg Heggen.
“The story in the song is about our common need to meet and to have meaningful relationships. I started writing the lyrics during the last covid shutdown in Norway, and felt that I should try and describe some movement from a person’s isolation and dark thoughts to slowly experiencing the value of friendship. A lot of listeners complimented me on the lyrics for the Magnified album, and I feel that I have been able to sustain that level in this new song.”
Caligonaut is a solo project by Ole Michael Bjørndal, a guitarist best known for his previous work with Oak, Airbag and Bjørn Riis Band.
The lineup includes Ole Michael Bjørndal on lead vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitar (tuned in New Standard Tuning); Christian Holberg Heggen on piano, Rhodes, Hammond organ and Moog; Kristian Karl Hultgren (Wobbler) on bass; Andreas W. S. Prestmo (Wobbler) on backing vocals; Bjørn Solum on cello; Thøstur Eirikson on church organ; Arild Brøter (Pymlico) on drums and percussion; and Åsa Ree (Meer and Wobbler) on violin and backing vocals.
Buy the single at caligonaut.bandcamp.com