Poet Randi Ward has collaborated with Faroese singer-songwriter Eivør Pálsdóttir to render the acclaimed artist’s tenth album, Slør, into English. The folktronica album, Pálsdóttir’s commercial debut in the United Kingdom, was released by A&G Records earlier this summer.
Ward, who has written lyrics for the likes of Guðrið Hansdóttir and Icelandic sensation Ásgeir, was eager to work with Pálsdóttir once again. “Eivør and I collaborated on the song “Tides” in 2015, so I was excited when she approached me with this new project last year,” Ward said. “The Faroese word slør is both singular and plural. It can translate as veil or veils, and the title also represents a blurring of boundaries and blending of genres for her, I think.”
Critics have noted that much of the magic of Slør lies in the album’s synthesis of traditional elements from Faroese folk music with intense, dark electronica hooks built from samples of the crashing waves and echoing grottos of the Faroe Islands. Ward knew that it would be challenging to not only translate the album’s lyrics into English but keep the overall atmosphere of the album intact.
“In many ways, the metaphorical landscapes and folklore of the Faroe Islands are also embedded in the songs, so it was important to find ways to do justice to that,” Ward said. “Aside from conveying meaning, it can be excruciatingly difficult to translate the rhythm and essence of a text— especially when the words are already woven into a melody. Some translations seemed to work on paper, but they just didn’t sound right when read aloud or sung. There was a lot of back and forth with Eivør and other recording artists like Teitur Lassen and Lena Anderssen as we worked through each song.”
Altogether, it took eight months to rewrite the album’s lyrics. Pálsdóttir initially doubted that it would be possible. “It felt absolutely horrible at first,” Pálsdóttir wrote via email from Copenhagen, Denmark. “I kept thinking that it wasn’t going to work, but then I teamed up with Randi and the words started to flow naturally. Every single word had to fit just right. In the end, I was very pleased with the new album.”
Eivør, whose music has been featured in films such as Martin Scorsese’s Silence and in trailers for shows like Game of Thrones and Homeland, has also recently collaborated with Downton Abbey-composer John Lunn on the soundtrack and score of BBC America’s TV-series The Last Kingdom. With Slør, and its sold-out tour, the Faroese star gained an even deeper foothold in the United Kingdom.
Ward, who works as a translator of Nordic literature, said that it has been interesting to follow the project’s success as it takes on a life of its own. She was surprised to learn that one of her favorite songs from the album, “Surrender,” was selected by Sir Elton John for worldwide broadcast on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music’s Beats 1. “My favorite lines on the whole album are probably from that song: “I forget that I am drowning. / There is beauty all around me,” Ward said. “I think my other favorite songs on Slør are “Fog Banks,” “Into the Mist” and “My World.”
This article originally appeared in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.