– Must have something relevant to say

– Before, it was up to a random guy who in the review either decapitated you or praised you, and who decided whether the record died or lived, says Anneli Drecker.

Together with Nils Johansen, she is back with new Bel Canto music, 22 years after the last – after ruling the 90s with her triple Spellemann-winning electronica from the north.

– Before, I feared the reviews. I used to get up early, buy all the papers and go to the park and either cry or smile, says Drecker about the time when newspaper reviews were “the universal truth” – before social media came along.

– Today, the advantage is that everyone can have an opinion, even ordinary people or fans who share our posts. We are excited to see if we have managed to build up our fan base enough. At the same time, streaming gives the music a longer lifespan, it is no longer an off-the-shelf product, she says.

Must be relevant

Times are also different for the prominent vocalist in Bel Canto, who in the middle years has made solo records and commissioned works, researched throat singing, been an actor and sang with a-ha, Röyksopp and Ketil Bjørnstad.

Today, when she puts song melodies and lyrics to the music sketches that Nils Johansen comes up with, Drecker feels that she must have something relevant to tell.

– It has been the big turning point for me with the new record. Life has taken us all, and most of us are doing well. I can no longer sing about unrequited love as if I were still in my 20s. With “Grass Mint Crisp” I cracked the code.

The lyrics deal with the empty nest syndrome, inspired by the eldest daughter moving away from home, and Drecker believes that it resonates with many of the fans who are still with Bel Canto.

– Must be able to play

The song is the opening track on the new album “Radiant Green”, which will be released on Friday. There are guest appearances by, among others, Erik Ljunggren, Sondre Lerche and Nils Petter Molvær, while two of the songs were written together with Geir Jenssen, also known as Biosphere, who was in the band on the first two records.

Even though the Bel Canto duo have grown up, they are still keen to be able to play. With the music. Because – as Nils Johansen points out – the English “play” also means to play.

– Humans have a need for play, says the multi-instrumentalist, while Drecker talks about how children are good at building up – and tearing down soon afterwards.

She says they enjoyed the recording process, and all the time made sure to meet regularly in the studio to play. She with the voice, he with the guitar and synths.

– Learned self-censorship

– As an adult, you easily become results-oriented, so it is important to be in the creation, try your hand at it, make many sketches, and reject a lot. When I was an actor, I learned self-censorship. It is useful.

– The seriousness comes when we take it further and start making songs from the material. And when we’ve released a record, it’s not just our music anymore, says Anneli Drecker and quotes “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan that “it’s not a film until people have seen it”.

– In the same way, it’s not a record until people have heard it.

Needed new songs

It was after the comeback at Øya in 2017, where they played through the then 30-year-old debut album, that they realized that they liked this too much to stop.

– We are athletes, we want to play. The advantage of being so old is that we have a large back catalogue. At the same time, we have never wanted to be a band that plays old hits and sets fire to people’s memory books. Since we wanted to be relevant, we had to have new songs, says Anneli Drecker.

Now it’s about getting the fans to build up new memories around the new songs. First via the record, then at concerts during the festival summer before a club tour awaits in the autumn. Nils Johansen talks about hardcore Bel Canto fans in social media, and how both he and Drecker respond to them themselves.

– The fact that they are waiting for the new album has meant a lot to us, he says.

Uncompromising

Anneli Drecker has no doubt that the new music will also be unmistakably Bel Canto. She and Nils Johansen carry the band’s DNA with them, she says, emphasizing that you become clearer about yourself when you get older and stop wanting to please.

– Now I am more uncompromising! That’s why it’s fun to be well grown up and release music.

That is why they chose the artist life

Why have they chosen this life as musicians and artists?

– We have never felt as if we are in the entertainment industry – it has been more like a need to make this music. All people want to be heard, says Nils Johansen.

– I want the songs to reach people who need them, like a gift you give, and have a need to share when you feel you have reached a truth. If you go to the core of yourself, it will affect others, says Anneli Drecker.