Kristin Asbjørnsen

Biography

Kristin Asbjørnsen is a Norwegian singer and composer. The last years Kristin’s song has been causing euphoria among reviewers and audiences. Kristin has a unique voice, and is a master of smooth tone, organic distortion, and bright and complicated singing techniques. Known for her distinct approach to song-writing, Kristin’s roots lies in both the singer / songwriter tradition and the groove-based world music. Her trademark sound is rich with contrasts and dynamics, with strong melancholy and...

Kristin Asbjørnsen is a Norwegian singer and composer.
The last years Kristin’s song has been causing euphoria among reviewers and audiences.

Kristin has a unique voice, and is a master of smooth tone, organic distortion, and bright and complicated singing techniques. Known for her distinct approach to song-writing, Kristin’s roots lies in both the singer / songwriter tradition and the groove-based world music. Her trademark sound is rich with contrasts and dynamics, with strong melancholy and a feisty devilish energy.

Featured on a number of album releases, as well as a series of tours and festival performances in Europe, Kristin has until now focused mainly on work with her ensembles Dadafon and Kroyt where her own compositions play a core role.
In addition to writing her own lyrics, she has used Victorian and contemporary poems for her music for several years.
Kristin has won several national Music Awards.

Kristin received her formal musical education from the Jazz Department at the Trondheim Music Conservatory, and West-African griot singers are among her many sources of inspiration.

FILM MUSIC ALBUM / FACTOTUM:
The last year Kristin has made her international debut as a film score composer for the American movie “Factotum”, based on a novel by Charles Bukowski. Factotum is a US/Norwegian co-production by Director Bent Hamer and producer Jim Stark, and is starring Matt Dillon, Marisa Tomei, Lili Taylor among others. The film and the soundtrack have received a lot of international acclaim and Factotum was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Factotum is currently released in US together with the release of Kristin’s soundtrack album (released on the French/American label Milan Records).

Kristin is part of the following ensembles:

DADAFON – The last years Dadafon has been the main vehicle for Kristin’s song-writing. The music can be described as passionate love songs, where strong melodies and the powerful and danceable rhythms play a central part. In 2005 Dadafon released their fifth album “Lost Love Chords” on Emarcy/Universal, met with excellent reviews. Dadafon has won the Norwegian music award Alarm and has been nominated for the “Spellemannsprisen” (the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy). In addition to performing at a number of European festivals, Dadafon has toured Norway extensively, causing a lot of great acclaim. www.dadafon.com

Kristin’s trio KROYT, with Oyvind Brandtsegg (vibraphone/sampling) and Thomas T. Dahl (guitar) has established themselves as one of Norway’s hottest live-acts with their improvised, avantgarde, multimedia, vibrant and mutated rock. Kroyt has released 4 critically acclaimed albums. The band won the “Spellemannsprisen” in 2000 for their album “Low” and won the National Composition Award for their song “Silent”. Kroyt has collaborated with the Swedish “Fleshquartet” and the brilliant Norwegian stringquartet “Vertavo” to name a few. Kroyt has performed at a great number of international festivals. In 2005 the band collaborated with the Swedish cello player Svante Henryson, performing in Norway and England. www.kroyt.com

Kristin was a member of and composer for the vocal experimentation-oriented vocal quartet, KVITRETTEN. During a 10 year period, Kvitretten became almost like a Norwegian institution for contemporary, experimental way of singing; with a main focus on improvisation. Kvitretten received the “Spellemannspris” nomination for the album “Voices” in 1996, and released two more albums to excellent reviews. Kvitretten toured extensively in the Nordic countries and Germany.

Kristin has also worked with the internationally acclaimed pianists Tord Gustavsen and Ketil Bjornstad , as well as the Malian singer Rokia Traore. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.