16 Einar Solberg

• 1 16 07:44
• 2 Remember Me 05:39
• 3 A Beautiful Life 04:35
• 4 Where All the Twigs Broke 06:14
• 5 Metacognitive 05:13
• 6 Home 04:10
• 7 Blue Light 06:54
• 8 Grotto 04:57
• 9 Splitting the Soul 06:22
• 10 Over the Top 06:54
• 11 The Glass Is Empty 11:08
• Total Runtime 01:09:50

Info for 16

In 2023, Einar Solberg (Leprous) commences his solo career with the release of “16” – a collection of intimate but extravagant collaborations with an impressive array of like-minded songwriters and composers, and a large number of musicians helping him achieve this very ambitious album.

Wildly diverse but spiritually rooted in Einar’s well-established musical world, “16” is an album that brims with surprises and spinning curveballs.

Collaborating with everyone from modern prog contemporaries like Bent Knee’s Ben Levin and Agent Fresco’s Toti Gudnason, to experimental cellist (and regular Leprous live musician) Raphael Weinroth-Browne and Magnus Børmark, best known as a member of Norwegian alt-folk troupe Gåte.

He also once again collaborates with Ihsahn and Starofash. The sound of a restless spirit in his absolute element, “16” is an extraordinary first foray into solo waters for Einar Solberg.

“It’s called 16 because that’s when the first really, really bad things started happening to me in life. From 16 to 19, there were a lot of very life-defining moments that happened to me, and that changed me,” he says. “That’s when I kind of lost my innocence and I started realising that life is serious and bad shit can happen. A lot of pretty drastic things happened within those three years. But this album is not only about the bad things. It’s also about some of the career-defining moments, like the moment I started playing with the band and began to find a community to belong to. Emotionally, I’m a bit of everything, so it covers the entire emotional spectrum!” (Einar Solberg)

Einar Solberg, vocals, keyboards
Keli Guðjónsson, drums
Tor Egil Kreken, bass
Raphael Weinroth-Browne, cello
Chris Baum, violin
Ben Levin, guitar (tracks 2,3,8 & 9)
Magnus Børmark, guitar (tracks 2,3,4,8 & 9)
Tóti Guðnason, guitar, piano
Ihsahn, guitar, vocals
Star of Ash, samples
Asger Mygind, vocals, guitar
Pål Gunnar Fiksdal, trumpet (tracks 4,6,7,9,10 & 11)
Runar Fiksdal, trombone (tracks 4,6,7,9,10 & 11)
Nora Hannisdal, french horn (tracks 2,4,7,9 & 10)
Jon Henrik Rubach, saxophone (track 6)
Þórður Sigurðarson, church organ (track 11)
The City Of Prague Philharmonic Choir (tracks 9 & 11)

Einar Solberg
is as renowned for the tender honesty of his lyrics as he is for the eccentric majesty of Leprous’ music. But even by his usual standards, ‘16’ is an extremely emotional and dynamic piece of work. Einar describes the record as “the closest I’ve ever come to writing a concept album” and explains that the new songs are about a very specific and transformational period in the musician’s life. This is the sound of a restless spirit in his absolute element.

“It’s called 16 because that’s when the first really, really bad things started happening to me in life. From 16 to 19, there were a lot of very life-defining moments that happened to me, and that changed me,” he says. “That’s when I kind of lost my innocence and I started realising that life is serious and bad shit can happen. A lot of pretty drastic things happened within those three years. But this album is not only about the bad things. It’s also about some of the career-defining moments, like the moment I started playing with the band and began to find a community to belong to. Emotionally, I’m a bit of everything, so it covers the entire emotional spectrum!”

’16’ finds Einar collaborating with everyone from modern prog contemporaries like Bent Knee’s Ben Levin and Agent Fresco’s Toti Gudnason, to experimental cellist (and regular Leprous live musician) Raphael Weinroth-Browne and Magnus Børmark, best known as a member of Norwegian alt-folk troupe Gåte. He also once again collaborates with Ihsahn and Star Of Ash amongst many others. The record was mixed by mixed by Adam Noble (Placebo, Biffy Clyro, Nothing But Thieves) and mastered by Robin Schmidt (The 1975, Placebo, The Gaslight Anthem, etc.).

This album contains no booklet.