Hilma Nikolaisen Heritage

Hilma Nikolaisen's third album, Heritage, will be released on February 12th 2021. The first single, «Maybe Today (Satan)» is out now.

After the promising, Norwegian Grammy-nominated debut Puzzler (2016), and the more ambitious follow-up Mjusic (2018), it would've been easy for Hilma Nikolaisen (formerly of Serena Maneesh) to continue in the same vein. After all she's perfected her own kind of groovy guitar rock built on catchy riffs and jammy psychedelic excursions. Instead, Heritage represents a surprising step to the side.

The new album's stripped-down and almost acoustic soundscape has been a conscious choice, it's not at all a result of the sad, pandemic limitations of our times. On one hand, the new approach is an attempt to capture the essence of the songs by removing ornamental instrumentation - on the other to not get caught up in familiar patterns or specific ways of playing. The result is Nikolaisen's most melodically elaborate album, and possibly also the most immediate.

«Maybe Today (Satan)» opens the album and sets the record straight, so to speak. Nostalgic fingerstyle on an inherited Santana nylon guitar from 1975, a chorus of flutes and a melody that is almost Bacharachian in its exquisite simplicity. Plenty of melody lines on Heritage could've easily found their natural place in the pop canon of the sixties. «Seven» is a bittersweet tale of shared history, and gathers all the voices of the Nikolaisen siblings, and parts of the next generation, in the choir.

«You pt. II» is a continuation or rather re-interpretation of the track «You» from Mjusic, now stripped all the way down to occasional a cappella and sparse string playing. This is just one of several textual or musical references to previous songs that attentive fans of the catalog will pick up on, and new listeners can look forward to discovering.

Heritage is a seamless celebration of the Album Format, with nine tracks that each shine in their own uniqueness, but which also complement each other in a well-thought-out whole. While most of the songs on the album deal with memory, past and future, often with a nostalgic touch, the last track «All In (Into the Outset)» is a life-affirming embrace of what is to come, of what the future holds. It both expands the soundscape of Heritage and circles back to previous highlights with its mesmerizing choruses and effective repetitions, interspersed with wonderfully nonchalant whistling and confidently playful electric guitar licks.

Heritage is written, instrumented, arranged, and produced by Hilma Nikolaisen, and mixed by, among others, Mattias Glavå (Dungen, Håkan Hellström), John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake), Emil Nikolaisen, Jay Andrews and Matias Tellez. The cover is designed by Peder Bernhard with art by Vanessa Baird.

Press photos by Julia Naglestad

Press photos by Elvira Nikolaisen

Side A:

1. Maybe Today (Satan)
Santana, flutes and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Jørgen S. Larsen’s Studio Paradiso and Emil Nikolaisen’s Malabar Studio.
Mixed by Matias Tellez.

2. Seven
Gibson Gospel, 12 string, fretless, percussion and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen. Additional vocals by Oskar, Anna, Ida, Elvira, Ivar, Emil, Miika, Mathias, Nils, Marie and Gustav Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Mads Johansen’s Lilleaker Folkets Hus, Villa Zen and Malabar Studio.
Mixed by Morten Øby.

3. You Pt. II
Landola and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Mads Johansen’s Lilleaker Folkets Hus and Studio Paradiso.
Mixed by John McEntire.

4. Heritage
Santana, bass and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Jørgen S. Larsen’s Studio Paradiso.
Mixed by Jay Andrews.

5. Untitled (Where Are You Now)
Santana, clarinet and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Jørgen S. Larsen’s Studio Paradiso and Malabar Studio.
Mixed by Jørgen S. Larsen.

Side B:

1. Season Blue
Piano, 12 string, Santana, bass, telecaster and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Emil Nikolaisen’s Malabar Studio and Studio Paradiso.
Mixed by Matias Glavå.

2. New Kids
Santana, Gibson Gospel, fretless, percussion, piano, Roland CR-68 and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Jørgen Larsen’s Studio Paradiso.
Mixed by Emil Nikolaisen.

3. Time-Out Interlude
Harpeleik and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Recorded at Jørgen S. Larsen’s Studio Paradiso.
Mixed by Jørgen S. Larsen.

4. All In (Into The Outset)
Landola, Gibson Gospel, 12 string, bass, percussion, Jazzmaster, drums, organs and vocals by Hilma Nikolaisen.
Additional vocals by Hanne Sørli, Elvira Nikolaisen, Eirin Kinn, Anna G. Nikolaisen and Eirik Opheim.
Recorded at Morten Øby’s Taakeheimen Lydrike, Villa Zen and Malabar Studio.
Mixed by Matias Glavå.