THE INTRO
We’ve got the big scoops on Leprous, Pink Floyd, Flying Colors, Bent Knee, Anathema, Lee Abraham, Jane Weaver, Voyager and more…
Einar Solberg reveals how he channelled his depression into the band’s powerful sixth album. “I HAD SUCH BAD
ANXIETY ON TOUR THAT I WAS LOOKING UP TICKETS TO FLY BACK HOME.”
Leprous are describing Pitfalls as their “most controversial album so far”. The nine-track, which will be released via InsideOut on October 25, is a melting pot of avant-garde, jazz, trip hop, modern progressive rock and spinetingling vocal harmonies, made even more powerful by singer-songwriter Einar Solberg’s personal lyrics.
“I wrote [opener] Below on the piano right before the biggest period of anxiety and depression that I’ve had in my life. I’ve never opened up publicly about personal things before but I could feel that something was wrong and it was a very spontaneous song,” he reveals.
“It’s a very versatile album and you don’t know what’s coming round the next corner which, in a way, represents the uncontrollable nature of anxiety and depression.”
Solberg used the songs both to chronicle and help treat his illness, which kicked in a few months after the release of 2017’s Malina.
The discomfort he experienced during the subsequent tours is also explored on the album, particularly on the melodic Alleviate.
“I figured that touring at that time was doing me more good than bad,” he reflects. “But I remember during our Australian tour [in January 2018], I had such bad anxiety that I was looking up tickets to fly back home several times a day. I didn’t want to be there. Tor [Oddmund Suhrke, guitars] has been a very close friend of mine for ages and he managed to calm me down. The tour ended up being pretty cool in the end.
“It was a very hard year but at the same time a very rewarding one where I learned so much about myself, what matters and what doesn’t matter in life.”
The album, particularly Below, brings Solberg’s passion for Massive Attack to the front – the limited-edition CD media book includes a cover of the trip hop band’s Angel – and introduces layered strings from touring cellist and Malina contributor Raphael Weinroth-Browne, as well as Bent Knee violinist Chris Baum. The chaotic 11-minute finale The Sky Is Red also features a small group of Serbian classical singers whose voices were layered to form a choir.
“Some songs we kept minimal but that last song is very big, it has something like 600 tracks
in total. Just when you think it’s already overthe-top, we add 50 more layers and it just gets bigger and bigger!” he says, laughing. “It ends pretty dark but that track couldn’t have been anything other than the last song, even though I would have liked it to have ended on a lighter note for once!”
Pitfalls has been co-produced with David Castillo, who the band worked with on Malina, and mixed by Adam Noble (Placebo, Biffy
Clyro), who’s opened up the album’s more electronic elements.
“When we got Adam’s mixes back, we were like, ‘Wow, this is next level!’ and we’re quite picky people,” says Solberg. “There was a historic moment when David heard the mixes. He’s a very mellow and calm guy but he told me he got goose-bumps, and he’s never said that before!”
The monochrome cover art, adapted from a painting by Indonesian artist Elicia Edijanto, spoke to Solberg’s now calmer state of mind.
“The boy with the flute represents the thoughts constantly playing into your mind, that constant noise. The Buddha image represents mindfulness and how you relate to those thoughts; that’s something I’ve been working on achieving. It’s about finding inner peace and acceptance of things not always being perfect,” he says.
Leprous have announced a European tour this autumn with two shows confirmed for the UK in November. For the full list of dates, visit www.leprous.net. NRS