– We are not afraid of what people think

– We are like an old married couple, in a constant state of terror. We are good at pointing out mistakes and shortcomings, but also at laughing at each other and ourselves. And then we are very distracted, both of us. We drive most people around us crazy with our indecisiveness and hyperfocus, says Anneli Drecker and laughs.

She and her partner Nils Johansen are in Oslo, in the midst of a promo round, when Feedback calls for a little chat about Bel Canto’s brand new album “Radient Green” the day before its release. It has been 22 years since the last time there was new music from the critically acclaimed Tromsø band, who were in many ways pioneers of the arctic electronica wave.

– Are the nerves under control?

– I am most excited, and look forward to it more than I have nerves. After working for so long in the studio, it’s nice to launch the album, to turn the gaze towards what music actually is, so that people can hear it, says Johansen.

Drecker, for her part, noticed that the nerves were creeping in on Wednesday, when she was on her way home after a long day of promo. They talked about the same thing over and over again, why Bel Canto “suddenly” chose to release an album a whole 22 years after the previous one.

– Then maybe it’s not appropriate for me to ask exactly the same thing?

– Hehe, no then. For us, it was never the case that Bel Canto ended, but we gradually had slightly different lives. I moved to Oslo for a period, had already released a solo record and continued with my own project, while also touring with a-ha and Röyksopp. Nils stayed in Tromsø, cultivated his contacts here and had his own projects. But we never stopped sending each other Bel Canto sketches and song ideas. And every time I visit Nils, which is quite often, we go to his basement apartment where the original Bel Canto studio is and make music, says Drecker.

– I have never been so stressed before

It was never intended that the fans should wait 22 years for a new album while life happened. In 2011, the duo worked for a period with Geir Jenssen, who was part of the original trio before he left the band in 1990. They made the sketches for the songs “Lake Ice” and “Virginia”, both of which are on the new album.

– We always thought it was a shame that the world didn’t get to hear the songs. But it was probably when we played at Øyafestivalen in 2017, and got the really great response, that we thought that this is too much fun to start and stop. We realized that there was a demand, but we have never been a band that can travel around and play “oldies”, and therefore decided to make a new album, says Drecker and continues:

– The public may not care whether we have new music or not, they own the songs now, they are no longer ours. But our goal has always been to create something new, something that hasn’t been created before, to tell a story. It’s finding the new, the slightly weird, that drives us, not standing and fidgeting with the feathers.

Meanwhile, while the world has waited consciously or unconsciously for new music from the synthpop band, both Drecker and Johansen have become doctors, Drecker in music, Johansen in medicine. When the pandemic came, the duo could therefore not do like other musicians, shut themselves up and create a lot of new things. They stood in the fire in their respective fields.

– I have never been so stressed before in my entire life. As a teacher, I was glued to Zoom to help my students, it’s not something you can shirk from. I was exhausted afterwards, and it was therefore very suitable to take six months off to write music with Bel Canto. And then it has taken some time to get everything done, it has, but it has gone by and by, says Drecker.

– Have you thought much about what people and the industry will think of the record?

– No, it has been lovely this time. That is the blessing of getting older, you are not looking to “please” others and are much more grounded in yourself. We trust that what we think is good, tough, strange, interesting or important, is, she says.

Johansen is a self-proclaimed stoic. He has little faith in going around and worrying about something you can’t do anything about.

– I live by that rule. We’ve done the best we can, and as long as we’re proud of what we do, I’m not afraid of what people think. We have talked about it, who it is we have to satisfy. Music is not something we make to entertain, it is a need we have and something we have to do, he says.

Bel Canto has never tried to create something to imitate someone, but always made music from their own point of view, adds Drecker.

– The new album is the result of what happens when Nils and I play together. And he is the world’s best playmate.

– We have both grown old in the face

The record industry has changed a lot in 22 years, the duo has noticed that. It has become officeless and without handshakes, almost invisible.

– Ritual situations like signing a contract happen all over the place. I stood and ate a slice of bread and then it was done, as it were, says Drecker and laughs.

And then there is this thing with marketing. In the nineties, Bel Canto had people doing it for them. Now they more or less have to do it themselves.

– Is it easy to talk about yourself?

– No, it’s deep inside, but it’s probably a muscle you just have to train. But we are a “we”, which makes it a little easier. And people expect to be informed. If you’ve done something and don’t tell about it, it’s almost as if it didn’t happen. I’ve been on the radio twice now without taking a picture of myself sitting in the studio, and I have to sharpen up there, says Drecker.

– Actually entering the situation where you have to market yourself is quite a different encounter. You have to take care to be visible when you are relevant, but you get the feedback directly now, and then you get a clear overview of how the stall is. It is very rewarding, says Johansen.

– Will there be a lot of selfies?

– There was also a hurdle to overcome, that we have both become a bit old in the face. No face lift here. But now we have posted so much, shown that this is what the duo looks like today, and thankfully we are done with it. After all, man is vain by nature, and there are many things to strive for. But it’s a bit of fun to show, especially to the girls out there, that this old lady is out with new synthpop, says Drecker.

No easy solutions

Although the duo have worked closely for four decades, they don’t often disagree. It happens that one does not kick on something the other brings up, and vice versa, but there are no hurt feelings or arguments because of that.

– We have become good at going back to the start. Children are very good at that, at tearing down the nice Lego thing they’ve created without dwelling on it, and we adults have something to learn from that, says Drecker.

Johansen agrees.

– If what we are working with does not have a suggestive power, we rather move on and find something else. We can’t afford to rest. Our songs are like children you bring into the world, and if you have a herd of ten children, you want to give them all only the best. So there are no easy solutions. The music is too important for that, he says.

– Are there any of the children throughout a nearly forty-year career that you would rather not have been born?

– I think that we have been true to our own expression, and even though we have changed, both as people and as musicians, it is not something I am ashamed of. When it comes to what you agreed to and what you didn’t, you can always go back and find something to regret, but that list is long, says Johansen, laughing, and adds:

– Before, I thought it was small to see or hear old interviews of Bel Canto, you were sort of reminded of who you were, or no longer were. Now I think it’s mostly pleasant.