The past three years Norwegian quintet Real Ones have recorded and released two quite different albums, the Spellemannpris awarded ‘All For The Neighbourhood’ in 2008 and ‘EKKO (instrumental opus 1)’ in 2009, created for and performed at the music and arts festival EKKO in Bergen that year. Now they are ready with their fifth album, ‘First Night On Earth’, which also marks their debut as music video directors having created visual backdrops for all nine songs on the new album (watch them here!).

Who are they?
Brothers Ivar (vocals, guitars, mandolins) and David Chelsom Vogt (vocals, guitars, violin), Jørgen Sandvik (vocals, guitars, sitar, banjo), Øystein Skjælaaen (bass) and Kåre Opheim (drums), with guest appearances by among others Susanne Sundfør on their first ever duet, ‘Sister To All’, and Indian slide guitar guru Debashish Bhattacharya and his tabla-playing brother Subhasis on ‘Do It Anyway’.

How’s the album?
Written and recorded partly in an old farmhouse in the mountains outside Voss, Norway, and in a beach house in Goa, India, ‘First Night On Earth’ is in many ways a sweet combo of ‘All For The Neighbourhood’ and ‘EKKO (instrumental opus 1)’. Here the catchy folk-rock ‘n alt-country that dominated the first and the 1960s psychedelic pop and (prog-)rock of the latter have equal say – exemplified nicely by great first single ‘Sister To All’ and beautiful, almost 11 minutes long album closer ‘Endless Night’, which is in fact a jam recorded by producer Yngve Leidulv Sætre without the band’s knowing – but they also manage to throw in a bit of Ray Charles soul (‘Is There Hope?’) and include the Orient (‘Do It Anyway’) with impressive ease and without disturbing the whole. I want to say “awesome” – so that’s what I’ll do: Awesome!

Check them out if you like:
The Band, The Flaming Lips and Wilco seasoned with Oriental folk, Scandinavian melancholy and amazing vocal harmonies.

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Genre: Rock/Folk/Alt-country
Who: Real Ones
Album: First Night On Earth
Label: Warner Music
Year: 2011
Country: Norway
Language: English
DOWNLOAD VIA

Recommended tracks:
Sister To All – Yaya – Do It Anyway – Evolution – Endless Night