Biography
Varjen (Swedish for "the wolf") is the soloproject of singer-songwriter Niklas Sibelius from Malmoe, Sweden. 'Against The Country' is his second release, here Sibelius is taking his songwriting and production another step. Based around his unassuming guitar work, he creates haunting indie folk tracks with deep lyrics in the veins of Damien Jurado and fellow swede The Tallest Man on Earth. The songs explore themes of broken love, small town boredom and a scattered youth. The title track is a slow minimalistic folk song where Sibelius sings " - And we dance to the peace drum, like we did when we were young" Here he has done extremely well in creating a quintessential folk track with deep lyrics, vulnerable vocals and just enough accompaniment to accentuate his playing to provide all the right highlights.
'Against The Country' is the follow-up of the 2012 self produced EP 'Hardland which included the single 'Shoreline Weeks' it provided Varjen with both a national and international following. It was aired on Swedish national radio (Musikguiden P3) and featured on the Indie Music Reviewer compilation album 2012. Varjen is also currently working on the soundtrack to the TV documentary "Från Andra Sidan Längtan". Hardland EP also opened up the eyes to Rundgång Rekords (This is Head, WiYcked, Kord) a local Indie label looking for new interesting independent music for vinyl releases. Rundgång Rekords really matches the ambition and integrity of this ambitious independent artist and 'Against The Country' has the promise to end up as one of the highlight releases of the year.
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During the release of the new EP, Varjen was selected artist-of-the week by renowed Swedish webzine Rockfoto:
http://rockfoto.nu/magazine/2014/04/24/stjaernskott-varjen
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.