Anja Lauvdal curates a freewheeling playlist of folk, jazz and experimental music

Welcome back to Selections, a series of artist-curated playlists from those in the know.

There’s something to be said about full-length debuts from artists some years into established professions. There’s often an eagerness from all manner of fans and critics, who await such releases with an additional air of excitement. Prospective listeners may well ponder how the creators of these highly-anticipated, long-awaited projects will make sense of colourful careers and reconcile the various offshoots of their work into a singular album, after extended spells of time spent honing a craft, working closely with peers and experimenting across a diverse spectrum of musical landscapes.

Anja Lauvdal is a Norwegian musician and composer who released her solo debut From a Story Now Lost last year via Smalltown Supersound. Hailing from the small town in the south of Norway where label founder Joakim Haugland started the imprint in the 90s, the record was a full circle moment for more than just Lauvdal. Created with LA-based producer and Awe founder Laurel Halo – who herself shared a remarkable album, Atlas, just a few weeks back – From a Story Now Lost was exquisite and transportive, and chronicled an artist in a clear moment in both time and place. A graduate of the prestigious Trondheim Conservatory of Music, the release marked the latest stop in a musical odyssey that has seen her particulate in various ensembles and collaborate with renowned artists like Jenny Hval both in the studio and on stage over the past decade or so.

Earlier this year Lauvdal released a follow-up, Farewell to Faraway Friends Vol 1 & 2, and announced a forthcoming show at Portuguese festival Semibreve. This very Selections playlist considers the latter, as she shares an abundance of music she’s enjoying at the moment in the lead-up to the event. In her own words, ‘there’s some Norwegian folk and experimental music” within the free-form offering, and artists like Jeanne Lee (“I love her”), Evicshen (*I run a festival in Oslo for improvised music called All Ears and she played a great concert last year) and YoshimiO. You can also expect music from William Parker, Mary Lou Williams and more.