“Telling tales of the rugged landscape of love and life experience…Flawless blend of folk, alternative country, roots rock, and American-Scandinavian artistry…Charged with emotional depth, warm and with a dash of magic and melancholy.”  These are just a few of the words European critics have used to describe Beyond The Grey, Faroese singer-songwriter Guðrið Hansdóttir’s third full-length album. The album, also recently reviewed by Folk Radio UK, was released across Scandinavia and continental Europe by Faroese label TUTL in July and features lyrics written by West Virginian poet Randi Ward.

Ward conducted research in the Faroe Islands for years before her debut photo-poetry collection, Meditations on Salt, was published there in 2007. Beyond The Grey includes new arrangements of some of Ward’s poems as well as material she created exclusively for the album. Several tracks blend English and Faroese within the same song, and the refrain of the song “Morgun í Mars” features the poem of the same title by Guðrið Helmsdal, one of Ward’s favorite Faroese poets.

“The first time I read Randi’s poetry, I saw right away that it was something very special. I was completely fascinated by her style and immediately identified with her subjects. I wrote 11 songs in four months. It was like there was something magical about Randi’s words, because they made it so easy for me to write song after song! It was bizarre, but also a fantastic and exciting process to experience,” wrote Hansdóttir via email. She performed at SXSW in Austin, TX in March and is preparing to tour continental Europe in early 2012. 

Ward, who currently works in Iceland, enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with the acclaimed Faroese artist. She thinks that Beyond The Grey gives voice to the turbulent currents that are constantly roiling beneath the Faroe Islands’ romantic façade and that they album will captivate a wide audience. The Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið named Beyond The Grey one of Iceland’s top albums of 2011.

“Morgun í Mars” from Guðrið Hansdóttir’s third full-length album, Beyond The Grey (TUTL, 2011).

This article was originally published in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.