CALIGONAUT
Self-effacing Airbag acolyte makes solo hay with a little help from his friends.
THERE’S SURELY NEVER been a better time to do it yourself. With you-know-what reducing face-to-face interaction, record labels preferring low-maintenance solo acts, and technology making self-production easier than ever, it’s a tempting option for any aspiring musical visionary.
But great work can also be achieved by careful delegation, and proof of that can be found in the debut album by Ole Michael Bjørndal, aka Caligonaut.
“I’m not a full-time musician,” he tells Prog,“I’m more of a hobby guitar player who plays for enjoyment.” For an enthusiastic amateur, he’s made some useful friends.
The four lengthy compositions on Magnified As Giants journey through symphonic prog via bucolic folk, space rock, dreampop and pastoral psychedelia, creating musical visions coloured by the contributions of some notable backing musicians.
Aficionados of Norwegian prog may recognise Bjørndal’s name from his role in Airbag’s touring band and on Bjorn Riis’ 2019 solo LP, A Storm Is Coming, as well as his work as part of Oak.
For Caligonaut (“it kind of means ‘traveller in the mist’”), he enlisted three members of Oslo proggers Wobbler to flesh out his sound: bassist Kristian Hultgren (“I knew he was capable of working with any idea I threw at him, and coming up with his own”); keyboard multitasker Lars Fredrik Frøislie (“he’s always great”), and singer Andreas Prestmo, who contributed the backing response to Bjørndal’s lead vocal on Emperor – “He’s an amazing singer, and he contributed his own ideas on the spot, which were just amazing.”
Airbag’s Henrik Fossum drummed on the album, as did Arild Brøter, leader of Oslo fusionists Pymlico (featured in Prog 116). Violinist Asa Ree, meanwhile, not only contributed strings but also choral backing vocals ideas.
Perhaps the biggest coup of all for Bjørndal though was to enlist church organist Iver Kleive to accompany his evocative guitar patterns on the sumptuous, widescreen Hushed.
“He lives just by me. I can see his house from here,” explains the songwriter.
With neighbours like that, who needs bandmates? Yet Magnified As Giants is still undeniably Bjørndal’s vision. His versatile guitar playing shows mastery of styles ranging from metallic fret histrionics to the alluring acoustica of the title track, playing partly schooled by a key inspiration: “The album was written in the standard tuning that Robert Fripp used on his Guitar Craft courses, then I added layers with standard and drop D tunings.”
Lyrically, parts of the album are informed by his background as a political science graduate, and witnessing the alarming developments that have taken place not only in his home country but further afield. On Emperor he sings from the point of view of someone seduced by the prospect of the strong populist leader who is actually a divisive force: ‘Come into my life, my emperor… make us forget who we were and what we meant, a unity that’s been here forever.’
“I’m a huge believer in a liberal democracy,” he says, “and I feel like as a society we’re getting more and more fragmented. You used to feel like you were in a community but you no longer feel like that.”
If anyone can show that a communal approach benefits the greater good, it’s Caligonaut. Prog suspects more fellow travellers will be coming his way very soon.
“I’M A HUGE BELIEVER IN A LIBERAL DEMOCRACY. I FEEL LIKE AS A SOCIETY WE’RE GETTING MORE AND MORE FRAGMENTED.”