Bel Canto

This spring sees the release of Bel Canto's brand-new album Radiant Green. It is the first time in more than two decades that new music from the award-winning duo hits the airwaves.

The group was formed in Tromsø in 1985 by vocalist Anneli Drecker, multi-instrumentalist Nils Johansen, and Geir Jenssen on synth and programming. Together, they created a sound where atmospheric and melancholic tones met elements of folk music from various corners of the world, in what was often referred to as the beginning of the Arctic electronica wave. Bel Canto's music and Drecker, the band's charismatic front figure, quickly gained attention internationally.

After two albums, Jenssen went solo under the name Biosphere. Bel Canto, now a duo with Drecker and Johansen, subsequently saw its major breakthrough with the album Shimmering Warm and Brightin 1992, for which they also won the group's first of three Spellemann awards. The group released six albums before 2002, when Drecker and Johansen wanted to pursue solo projects and collaborated with partners such as Röyksopp, a-ha, Ketil Bjørnstad, and the group Vajas.

On their new album, Bel Canto is reunited with Geir Jenssen on two tracks, and collaborates again with Gilles Martin, who co-produced the group's first two albums. Matias Tellez has mixed several of the songs.

Photo: Knut Åserud

Bel Canto. Foto: Knut Aaserud