The Seawolf

The Seawolf is a Scandinavian eerie lo-fi with a new lo-vi sound that is like no other. The new EP ‘Ginnungagap‘ is such an exhilarating piece of music, it will change your perspective on life with it’s mysterious sounds that have Nordic heritage for us to learn.

Eerie and ethereal, ‘Ginnungagap‘ is the debut EP to come from ambient low-fi artist The Seawolf. Styling his music as ‘low-vi’, an unusual mix of low-fi and viking/norse folk music. The Seawolf collaborated with Jósúa Rood and celebrated folk artist Runahild on this EP, as well as experts on the field of Norse mythology and Viking traditions. Forced into a creative space by the lockdown in LA, The Seawolf shows how life can spring out of the darkest places, and hopes that this resonates with his listeners. He certainly achieves this goal here, this is a gem.

Having previously released three singles, ‘Ginnungagap‘ is The Seawolf’s debut EP and this one is real quality. The first five songs had me in deep and and the nordic lo-vi is exactly what I needed to hear today.

Click here for this awesome EP on Spotify.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen - A&R Factory

Combining environmental Nordic soundscapes with lo-fi Hip-hop beats, The Seawolf has released his new album, ‘Niflheim’. Based in Los Angeles, The Seawolf worked with an array of contributors who helped produce this album to an extraordinary standard.Connecting with his Scandanavian heritage, ‘Niflheim’ is the 1st of the Nine Worlds of Norse, and The Seawolf is set to create 8 more after this has been released. Naming each song after one of the rivers of this Norse mythology, The Seawolf takes the listener on an ambient journey through this high concept album, in which he utilises the skills he has acquired by working in Hollywood’s TV and film, editing and crafting audio.

Filled with ambient soundscapes ‘Niflheim’ is an atmospheric and compelling body of work. Throughout the album The Seawolf explores hip hop, alternative and electronic lofi to create an engaging listening experience. From spacious synths and pulsing rhythms to echoed vocals and soft chants each song flows fluidly into the next while dark and heavy tones in tracks such as ‘Sylgr’ contrast lighter breezy elements in tracks such as ’Fimbulpul’. These contrasting elements within the album allows The Seawolf to evoke a push-pull of emotion within the listener while showcasing his ability to blend different genres with lush sounds and intricate instrumentation. - Indie Buddy

Timed perfectly with the change of global mood, here we have an eclectic and accomplished collection. Ideal for fans of electronic influenced chill-out music, this collection is both unique and appealing. The Seawolf combines his creative and musical talent to culminate in a release that is sure to find favour with all the right people. Sit back, enjoy and let the quality vibes lift your weekend. Combining environmental Nordic soundscapes with lo-fi Hip-hop beats, The Seawolf blows his listeners away with his newest release, ‘Niflheim‘. Having taken a huge 8 months to produce, this album is ready to be played. Reminiscent of Norwegian music constellation Wardruna, and at times Massive Attack‘s more alternative tracks, The Seawolf has blended hip-hop ideas and sampled environmental sounds in historic locations around Scandinavia to create his own distinctive genre, which he calls Low-Vi. Based in Los Angeles, The Seawolf worked with an array of contributors who helped produce this album at an extraordinary standard, connecting with his Scandanavian heritage. ‘Niflheim‘ is the 1st of the Nine Worlds of Norse, and so The Seawolf is set to create 8 more after this has been released. Naming each song after one of the rivers of this Norse mythology, The Seawolf takes the listener on an ambient journey through this high concept album, in which he utilises the skills he has acquired by working in Hollywood’s TV and film, editing and crafting audio. - Electric Mode

The Seawolf sortira son nouvel album intitulé Niflheim le 1er mai ! Découvrez ci-dessous un extrait du nom de « Ylgr » en duo avec Rúnahild ! - Valkyries Magazine

The Seawolf, self proclaimed lo-fi hip hop/Nordic folk artist, has just released a new video, Ylgr, as an appetizer to the forthcoming album Niflheim. The track features renowned Norwegian shamanic artist Rúnahild on vocals. - Mythologica

The Seawolf released its debut “lo-fi hip hop/Nordic folk” album, titled Niflheim.

After releasing the EP Ginnungagap last year, the project ran by Danish/American artist Andrew Såulf puts out a 9-track album, featuring collaborations with the renowned folk singer folk singer Rúnahild, electro-folk band Astralseid, Scandinavian religion and mythology expert Dr. Mathias Nordvig, as well as metal vocalist Lady Elisabeth.

Featuring lyrics taken from the Prose Edda, the album is the first of a series of 9, each named after the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology. Niflheim is the name of the realm of the ice and cold. Each song from the release is titled after the Élivágar frozen rivers.

Såulf composed the album at a studio in Los Angeles during the pandemic lockdown. He produced the album across 8 months, sampling Viking age instruments, as well as natural environmental sounds recorded in Norwegian ancient Viking burial sites.

Nordic musician and Astralseid member, Gustav Holberg, was charged with the mastering of the album, which he did in a solar powered studio in Norway. - Mythologica

Have you ever wondered what a Viking experiencing an existential crisis might listen to? Well, it might be something along the lines of Urðarbrunnr, the new track from American experimental lo-fi artist The Seawolf.

By Graeme Smith

The track combines layers of ethereal, electronic witch house sounds with spoken word Old Norse poetry to create the soundtrack to a parallel universe – one where Norsemen parked themselves in LA and began to experiment with keyboards.

It’s the perfect accompaniment to a video which features sweeping shots of dramatic Scandinavian landscapes and perfect for anyone who likes their ambient music grounded in rich, oft-forgotten part of human heritage (at least outside of York anyway!)

Taken from The Seawolf’s new EP Ginnungagap, check out the video for Urðarbrunnr below. - York Calling

The Seawolf first hit my radar back in August last year with his unique brand of “Viking lo-fi.” He’s back again with his new track Ylgr, a collaboration with singer and composer Rúnahild.

By Graeme Smith

If the week is getting a little on top of you, this track may be the perfect antidote. It’s just over three minutes of complete chill. Electronic beats meld seamlessly with ancient chanting in a composition that is rich with atmosphere and something unexplainable that harks back to our ancestors. Listen and the little things just fade away.

The track is taken from The Seawolf’s new album Niflhiem, named after one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology. The album is out now and The Seawolf promises another eight to complete the set. I can’t wait. - York Calling

Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?

Thanks for having me! It has been fairly good considering I live in LA. With a global pandemic, heat wave, fire tornadoes, murder hornets and the collapse of democracy, I still have time to make an EP and play video games so I cannot complain lol.

Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Uroarbrunnr”?

Yeah, so this song came about as an idea of “What music would the Norns listen to while weaving the fates of all mankind? What is the study music of a powerful being?”. I was lucky enough to have Dr. Mathius Nordvig, a world leading expert in pre-Christian religions and Nordic mythology to recite a stanza and a half from Völuspá, which is the first poem in the Codex Regius where many Old Norse poems are preserved. It concerns the three women who write the fate of every person. Mathius then recited this poem in Old Norse, which is the only language I plan on using in my lyrics.

Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?

Not so much the song itself, all the songs make up a part of the story of the Nordic creation myth, and how it mirrors the creation and birth of this musical project. So the EP really is a cohesive release, a sort of concept piece, rather than a collection individual singles.

How was the filming process and experience behind the video?

Well since we aren’t really allowed to leave the country right now, and being that I had a tight deadline with the release, the music video is a collection of shots from the Faroe Islands, and a few shots from Norway, that I was lucky enough to use from a friend’s trip there. The Faroe Islands has a primordial feeling to it and I think it fit the song pretty well and also visually represents the feelings I had when making the EP.

The single comes off your new album Ginnungagap – what’s the story behind the title?

So Ginnungagap means the yawning void, which is the nothingness that existed before the creation of the world in the Norse myth. It made perfect sense as this was the beginning of my musical journey and also represented the fact that something positive and creative was springing forth from the darkness of the current time.

How was the recording and writing process?

It was incredibly fun, 4 of the 6 songs have featured artists and watching everything come together organically was a pleasure to see. Everyone recorded their vocals in their local studios, 2 were in Norway and one was in Colorado. I took a lot of sounds that were recorded in Norway, Iceland and Denmark and played around for a bit, creating a sort of palette and library before diving into composing. The lyrics themselves on the two songs that have them, are straight from the Eddas so it was really just making sure the music fit the structure of old Norse poems.

How does your background as a visual artist and editor influences your music as a whole?

I would say it defines me greatly as a musician and how I approach the art. When I am creating a song, I am putting it all together very much like how I would edit a film or TV show. I first go out and gather, create and capture a bin full of content to work from and then from that bin of stuff, I piece together a story bit by bit. The songs that I create are very much scenes that you can only hear, and I do a lot of sound design at work so there was a lot of crossover in the skill sets.

Do you write picturing the visuals or images in your mind as you write the music? So they are more like scores?

It is an interesting question; I have heard from a lot of music critics that they felt like the music was very cinematic and should be a film score. I can’t say that I approached it this way, I suppose the way I structured and composed the music, much like how I edit film, ends up sounding like a score but I actually approached it more like if I were trying to make a well-produced radio play. I thought, if I were trying to tell a story with only audio and I wanted you to create the visuals in your head by yourself, what would the entire environment sound like and what would help you get a feeling of these concepts with just audio alone.

What aspect of the Norse mythology did you get to explore on this record?

I got to dive in deeper into the creation myth and do a little more research concerning how ancient Scandinavia would have oriented themselves in the context of their universe and where things began.

What made you want to tackle on these themes?

Well my plan overall with this project it to only release 9 albums, and to name each one after one of the 9 realms in Norse mythology, but with the EP, I needed a place to start that both connected to that idea and also fit into the theme of beginning and so Ginnungagap was the obvious and perfect choice. So, this really is a prologue to the overall story of The Seawolf and the challenge was to finish creating something that I could be happy with during a stressful time and I am pleased with the outcome.

Where else did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?

In terms of the lyrics, I essentially went through the old texts and found parts that I connected with and that I felt fit into telling the overall story of Ginnungagap. The songs themselves are my interpretation of aspects of the overall story of Norse creation and so the tone of each song is how I want the listener to feel at a certain point in the EP; the order of the songs are very intentional and make up a vignette of topics relating to the beginning of things in the Viking world and in my story.

What else is happening next in The Seawolf’s world?

I will be back in the studio in the fall working on my first album, Niflheim, which will come out next year through a record label that I am excited about but can’t yet reveal. I will also be doing one more online streaming concert but this time for the European time zones, sometime between now and the end of the year, still working that out. Stay tuned for sure! - Vents Magazine