Omen om Uår

Omen om Uår is a collaboration between the Norwegian/English ensemble Songleikr (“Song game”), the Icelandic ensemble Árstíðir (“seasons”), and Dutch producer and multi-instrumentalist Fieke van den Hurk.

The main melody and lyrics are written by Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch, while the musicians of Songleikr and Árstíðir shape the wider artistic expression through their distinctive voices, instrumentation and arrangements. Fieke van den Hurk serves as producer, bringing the different elements together into the rich and atmospheric soundscape of the recording. She also contributes as a performing musician.

The title refers to the old Nordic concept of an uår—literally an “un-year”: a year marked by failed harvests, scarcity, hardship and uncertainty. Throughout history, such years were understood not only as periods of material deprivation, but as times that tested communities, relationships and the human spirit.

In the modern Western world, an uår rarely announces itself through a failed harvest. For most of us, there will still be food on the table. Instead, scarcity may take other forms: a loss of certainty, belonging, direction, love or the sense of who we thought we were. The hardship moves into the inner landscape. And, like the communities who endured the uår of the past, we are asked to endure a season in which something familiar can no longer sustain us. We are ured to pass through it, adapt, and eventually emerge on the other side.

An omen can only be fully understood in retrospect. At the time, it is merely a disturbance—a sense that something is shifting. Once we pas through the difficult season we can look back and recognise the signs for what they were.

This song exists in that uneasy space before the full consequences are known: the moment when you sense that something is coming, but cannot yet see what form it will take.

“In retrospect, the song has come to reflect my experience of 2025—a year of profound change, loss and transformation for me and for many people close to me”. - Ingrid

The Stone Reading

This composition came to life through a stone reading. Living by the fjord, Ingrid collects stones that speak to her—objects shaped by geological time, weather and water, carrying marks, patterns and traces of processes far older than ourselves. To Ingrid, every stone carries a story.

Omen om Uår emerged from a particular stone found near Ingrid’s farm. As she studied its patterns, shapes and lines, they began to unfold into words. The lyrics appeared almost complete, as though the stone had been waiting patiently to tell its story.

Once the words had arrived, the melody followed almost immediately.

“I had just discovered the Icelandic band Árstíðir through their beautiful album Vetrarsól and was deeply moved by its atmosphere and vocal expression. On a whim, I reached out and asked whether they might be interested in a collaboration”. - Ingrid

To her delight, they replied almost immediately.

That first sketch travelled from Norway to Iceland, beginning a collaboration that gradually expanded to include musicians from several countries. Ideas, arrangements and recordings moved back and forth over many months. Once it was time to turn the music into its recorded form, producer Fieke van den Hurk was invited. Her musical sensitivity helped shape the recording while leaving room for each musician’s individual voice.

Credits

Composition / Main melody
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch

Lyrics
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch

Arrangement
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch
Daniel Auðunsson
Gunnar Már Jakobsson
Ragnar Ólafsson
Fieke van den Hurk

Performing musicians

Vocals
Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch
Maria Franz
Kasia Sikora-Black
Daniel Auðunsson
Gunnar Már Jakobsson
Ragnar Ólafsson

Pètur Oddbergur Heimisson

Piano
Ragnar Ólafsson

Bariton Guitar
Daniel Auðunsson

Guitar
Gunnar Már Jakobsson

Violin
Lotta Ahlbeck

Accordion
Fieke van den Hurk

Moraharpa
Maria Franz