Sandra Kolstad – Burning Love Sandra Kolstad’s electronic pop music has given her distinct voice attention and praise from the Norwegian and international music scene. She is currently preparing her new album, Burning Love. With a taste for conceptual albums, this time Kolstad has laid her interest on the ups and downs of desire, and the ideas of a love that can make us blind to red flags and black holes. Some of life’s worst wounds can come from these intense flames. The term Burning Love also points to the work needed to heal from damaging relationships. It evokes images of renewal and rising like a phoenix from the ashes. In the making of the album, Kolstad has used her own experiences and transformed them into strong, yet vulnerable works about pain and finding a way out. Kolstad uses the distinct world of modular synthesizers to create a warm, yet distant, stringent and floating soundscape. On the album she exposes a brighter, more poppy side to herself – at the same time she’s more experimental than ever before. Kolstad is the classically trained pianist who stormed into the Norwegian electronic pop scene with authority when she released her debut album. CRUX received rave reviews, including Aftenposten (Norway’s most widely circulated newspaper), who wrote that "Norway has finally gained a worthy front figure for electronic music." The daily newspaper proclaimed her "Norway's new electronic pop queen". Since then, Kolstad has released three records: (Nothing) Lasts Forever (2012), Zero Gravity State of Mind (2014) and San Silva (2017). The first two gave her radio slots in Norway and abroad, as well as playing some of Scandinavia’s most prestigious summer festivals like Roskilde and Øyafestivalen. When Kolstad released San Silva in 2017, many critiques meant it was Kolstad’s best work to date. An artist in the truest sense of the word, Kolstad is famous for her visual live shows and award winning music videos. She has collaborated with artists such as Birk Nygaard and Gunnhild Bakke. Kolstad has toured extensively in England, USA, Canada, Russia, South America, Spain and Germany. Her collaborations with a number of artists, such as Bergen's Miss Tati, the Danish pop hope Asbjørn, Lucy Swann, Argentinian Diosque and Icelandic GusGus, have given her a platform to expand her sound. On Burning Love Kolstad works with creative twin and legendary Norwegian producer Yngve Sætre, drummer and co-producer Jonas Barsten and modular synth guru Joakim Fossum. In addition to producing and releasing pop music, Kolstad works as a composer in other contexts. She was nominated for a Heddaprisen (the Norwegian Oscars) for the music she wrote for the play Songfuglen at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, one of the leading theatres in the Norwegian capital. Since then, she has composed the music for the play “The Family That Could Talk About Everything” at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen, where she also made her debut as an actor. In 2018, Kolstad composed a commissioned piece for Litteraturhuset in Oslo with French author Edouard Louis, as well as the music for Samlaget's 150th anniversary at the main stage at Det Norske Teatret, an event that was praised in the press and the Royal Family. Kolstad has gotten scholarships and attention for her work as a lyricist. In the review of San Silva, Klassekampen wrote: "(...) something about Kolstad's lyrics sticks in your mind and stays there for a long time. Since she started producing her extravagant electronic pop with CRUX in 2011, she has shown that she is a formidable songwriter who is able to turn words and phrases so they mean several things at the same time, depending on whose ear is listening." On Burning Love, Kolstad has tried to develop a language that depicts the different stages of a toxic relationship: The distortion of reality, the uncertainty, the abuse of power and the feeling of losing oneself. And in the end, hopefully, finding a way back to yourself, and maybe even something new. Følg Sandra Kolstad: Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Spotify San Silva (2017): – "With an artistic expression that would make Ziggy Stardust envy her, Sandra Kolstad has provided great art experiences in recent years. (...) San Silva is filled to the brim of vital and powerful electronic pop, made in her own crystal-clear manner. Kolstad's best album so far. "(Ando Woltmann, Morgenbladet 27/09/17) – "BLING BLING BLING" confirms Kolstad's place as one of the most intriguing pop acts around. (Andrew Hannah, The Line Of Best Fit, 16/6/17) – "The highlights are many. The obvious example is undoubtedly her third single "Hurricane", which can only be compared to the release of endorphins. It shoots speed from a jazz organ concert to a complex sound universe filled with a rich color palette of synths and beats, stretched out and held back until all meet in the explosive refrain. The same goes for "When My Heart Is Running Dry", which has one of the best pop choruses I've heard in a long time. “(Klassekampen, 25/09/17) – "Everything you want and more. (...) The productions have a leg safely planted in the modern pop landscape, but are packed with fun details that surprise and please. "(Under the Dusk, 23/9/17) Zero Gravity State Of Mind (2014): "Sandra Kolstad's new album is both a hard-wearing listening experience and a successful art project." (P3, 06/10/14) "The third record from Norwegian artist Sandra Kolstad finds her quietly evolving into one of our most important makers of electronic pop music" (The Line Of Best Fit, 24/2/14) "Pop with gravity and power" (Aftenposten 02/10/14) "On her third album, she has more self-esteem, takes more chances and experiments more than earlier - and she succeeds all the way." (GAFFA, 04/10/14) "Zero Gravity State of Mind marks a triumphant zenith in the singer's foray into electro. (...) SANDRA KOLSTAD's third offering introduces the listener to a variety of possibilities that could be achieved with hardware and technology, without compromising the rawness of organic instruments. "(Nothing but hope and passion, 09/10/14) (Nothing) Lasts Forever (2012): "Edgy, cuddly, catchy and seductive" (Dagbladet, 28/09/12) "Strict, detailed and danceable pop" (Dagsavisen, 28/09/12) "Highly captivating, surprising and liberating music" (Aftenposten 28/09/12) CRUX (2011): "Playful, wild and thrilling" (Dagbladet, May 2011) "Sandra has some of the strong and independent that Jenny Wilson and Jenny Hval represent. Like Robyn, she combines dance-friendly rhythms with industrial techno and modern noise jams. It suits her dark dramatic voice. "(Dagens Næringsliv 20/04/11) "Finally, Norway has also gained a worthy front figure in the electronic pop music. Her name is Sandra Kolstad and she goes her own way. It’s a marvelous debut". (Aftenposten 14/4/11) "The electronic pop throne in Norway is more or less available after Bertine Zetlitz and Annie has been quiet for a while. With the nine songs on CRUX Kolstad shows that she is a serious contender for the throne. "(Dagsavisen / Nye Takter 29/4/11) Scholarships, nominations and positions: - One-year work grant from the prestigious National Artists' Scholarship Award for Popular Composers - Scholarships/stipends for phonogram production and tour activities from the Performing Arts Fund, the Culture Council and the Sound and Picture Fund - Work stipend from the Writer's Foundation - Member of TONO, NOPA and Norsk Komponistforening - Advisory Member of NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists) - Member of Arts and Sciences at Tou Scene in Stavanger - Nominated for Statoil Stipend for the debut album CRUX - Nominated for Heddaprisen for the music for the performance Songfuglen at Det Norske Teatret Discography: - San Silva (Fanfare, 2017) - Zero Gravity State of Mind (MER / Universal / Red Eye Transit, 2014) - (Nothing) Lasts Forever (Trust Me Records, 2012) - CRUX (Trust Me Records, 2011) - All That We Are (EP, 2009)