INTRO
Q&A
BJØRN RIIS
The Airbag guitarist talks parallels with Norse mythology, Pink Floyd’s honesty and the bands he’s tipping his hat to on his new solo LP.
Words: Phil Weller
Portrait: Anne-Marie Forker
W
ith five solo albums in just over a decade, Airbag’s chief songwriter Bjørn Riis has proved more than capable of flying the nest. He’s been getting his talons into the “heavier stuff I wasn’t allowed to” in his main gig, but that doesn’t mean those solo records are full of clangour and anger. If anything, it’s quite the opposite, and on his fifth LP,
Fimbulvinter
, he’s exposing more of his soul than ever before. On it, he weaves through a turbulent time in his life by looking to the artists that made him fall in love with music, via tender turns and grit in equal measure.
The entire record hinges on the concept of mental fragility, charting the pain and anxiety that precedes a breakdown, just as how, in Norse mythology, the Fimbulvinter precedes the end of the world. It’s co-produced by “Airbag’s fifth member” Vegard Kleftås Sleipnes, who has helped Riis establish himself as a solo artist and, most importantly, as a vocalist –his role in helping Riis express the messages of these songs in the right manner can’t be understated.