ANE BRUN has announced details of a UK and Irish tour, part of her first lengthy European outing since the Directions tour of 2016. The dates will follow her first studio album of original material in five years, due for release in the autumn, and the news precedes the release of a brand new single, ‘DON’T RUN AND HIDE’, which will be released by her label, Balloon Ranger Recordings, on February 21, 2020.

As is typical with Brun, who rarely repeats herself, the tour will find her performing with a new configuration of musicians. “I’ve played with three of them – Per Eklund (drums), Martin Hederos (keyboards), Johan Lindström (keyboards, pedal steel, guitars) – a lot,” she elaborates, “but this time we’ll be joined by three new members: Felisia Westberg (bass), Lovisa Samuelsson (cello, percussion)  and Siv Øyunn Kjenstad (drums). I want to keep the energy from the Directions tour and build on it, but also find space for the softer side of me. Plus, of course, there’ll be a couple of covers!”

The years since 2015, when the Stockholm-based Norwegian released When I’m Free – which went Top 5 in both Sweden and her native homeland, as well as earning critical acclaim across the globe – have not been quiet. In 2017, Brun underlined her reputation as a masterful interpreter with an exquisite album of cover versions, Leave Me Breathless, and she’s continued to play occasional band shows promoting both records, as well as more extravagant, ambitious, collaborative concerts. These included around a dozen performances across Scandinavia with a variety of orchestras – the Stockholm shows are immortalised in 2018’s Live at Berdwardhallen – as well as a handful of memorable events devoted to the Leave Me Breathless collection. The latter included a sold-out 2018 show at Oslo’s Spektrum Arena, which was filmed for cinema release. In addition, she was invited to perform at the Nobel Prize Dinner in 2017, and returned to Stockholm’s Berwaldhallen for three shows with the Swedish Radio Choir in 2019.

“It’s been a few amazing years on stage for me,” Brun says. “The orchestral gigs have all been amazing, and I also feel they’ve helped me evolve as a live artist, since I needed to ‘own’ the stage, moving around and even dancing, plus get my message and presence across with a massive orchestra. I also loved working with the Radio Choir, as the voice is the instrument I know the best, and I loved the arrangements. The exceptional atmosphere at the Oslo Leave Me Breathless show will always stay particularly precious in my mind, too.”

Furthermore, Brun has made a number of guest appearances with other acts, including one with Oscar-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer Dustin O’Halloran (A Winged Victory For The Sullen), with whom she wrote ‘Horizons’, the closing theme for the movie Puzzle, starring Kelley Macdonald. She’s also contributed music to further films and TV shows, including 2018’s Becoming Astrid and 2019’s Hidden. As if this wasn’t enough, following the 2015 UK Top 5 hit (and Dance Chart No. 1) which she co-wrote with Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto, ‘Can’t Stop Playing (Makes Me High)’, she’s been co-writing with Grammy Award-winning producer Andrew Beyer, and has also released a number of covers online, not to mention a Christmas song, ‘The First Day of Christmas’, in 2019.

The Beths hail from the vibrant and deeply collaborative music community of Auckland, New Zealand. Lead vocalist and guitarist Elizabeth Stokes met guitarist Jonathan Pearce and bassist Benjamin Sinclair while they were all in bands in high school. While playing underground gigs around Auckland, they befriended drummer Tristan Deck, who joined the group in 2019. Their blend of propulsive, sing-along choruses, four-part vocal arrangements, and wry, introspective lyrics has earned them fans around the world, as well as opening slots for indie rock titans like The Breeders, Pixies, Weezer, and Death Cab for Cutie. 

After putting out their first EP Warm Blood in 2016, The Beths signed to Carpark Records, who issued their 2018 debut album Future Me Hates Me. The record’s irresistible pop rock hooks drew acclaim from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, the A.V. Club, and a host of other publications, many of whom listed Future Me Hates Me among their favorite LPs of 2018. The album also made the shortlist for New Zealand’s 2018 Taite Music Prize, and Stokes has twice been nominated for the Silver Scroll Award, New Zealand’s most prestigious songwriting honor. In 2019, The Beths were nominated for five Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, winning Best Group and Best Alternative Artist.

After touring the northern hemisphere for a year and a half in 2018 and 2019, The Beths regrouped to write and record their second album, Jump Rope Gazers, a sparkling collection of songs that deepens and expands the bright talent they showed on their early releases. Bonds between the band members only grew after spending so much time on the road together, and their camaraderie shows on their new work. Recorded and produced by Pearce in his Auckland studio, Jump Rope Gazers will be released by Carpark in 2020, a year that promises to bring The Beths’ delightful music to even more new listeners.