Enslaved guitarist and synthesiser player Ivar Bjørnson has released a new track under the banner of his ambient/prog project BardSpec.
The song was written by Bjørnson when BardSpec appeared at the Fire in the Mountains festival which was held in Blackfeet Country, Montana, this summer. Blackfeet tribe member Nicholas Rink, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, accepted the invitation to lend his voice in Blackfoot to the song.
The single release has evolved out from the growing collaboration and friendship between BardSpec and the By Norse label, the Blackfeet tribe, the Firekeeper Alliance and Fire In The Mountains.
“Going to Fire in the Mountains on Blackfeet land for the first BardSpec live performance since before the pandemic, I had a feeling that there would be music waiting for me there," says Bjørnson. "So I left spaces open in the set to allow for this. For me, that trip connected me to people and land and water in a profound way that felt like being granted a glimpse of a peaceful eternity. Nick’s voice is the guide on that journey.
"For me Eternity is wading into TwoMedicine Lake nǎatōokyōokǎasii with old and new friends and family , talking and laughing in the White Eagle grass behind me on the shores. And tens of thousands of years of Blackfeet children, youth, adults and elders living life with and in nature. Over and over.”
"I first met Ivar with an invitation - join us in Blackfeet Country and share your heavy music with us; our youth are uniquely distressed and we believe your heavy music can help," adds Rink. "While I was part of the incredible story of bringing Fire In The Mountains here to the Blackfeet, I never expected to be part of the music as well. Seeing Ivar and all my new friends on the shore of Two Medicine Lake late in July was something I had only imagined and signified the reality of our hopes and plans actualised.
"It was overwhelming, and when Ivar asked me in that moment to offer him some words in a recording for his music, in my mind I imagined a far-off project he would be working on back in Norway. I didn’t have time to prepare, or even organise much of my own thoughts, because of the intensity of the festival, and it took a few days for Ivar to get me alone in the woods just to speak a few words into his iPhone. I said what came to mind and tried to speak from the heart.”
Proceeds from the song will raise money for the Firekeeper Alliance, a non-profit organisation which aims to prevent suicide among indigenous youth in Browning, Montana. The track can also be found on all digital streaming platforms.
You can get Eternity here.
