The musician behind the Vikings soundtrack has revealed his process for creating the music for the show.
Einar Selvik, the solo artist and Wardruna member, created the music for the upcoming new season of Vikings. The fifth season, which premieres November 28, will be bringing back more violence and historical drama.
Speaking to NME, Selvik explained what we can expect, and not expect, from the fifth season soundtrack.
“It’s basically a collection of the material I do from my solo performances,” he said. “I have to say it’s very different to what Wardruna normally do. It takes the listener into a more simple and direct soundscape. It’s very minimalistic and non-compromised form of expression.”
“It’s just a voice and one instrument. It’s sort of a modern take on what the old Skalds or bards did when it was a living tradition,” he added.
He also revealed that one of the things he loves about the show is that it offers old-wisdom and knowledge, which he tries to embody with his music.
“A lot of the old poems and major myths that we have from that time are very good at telling us of the cycle of nature,” he said. “They map the relation of human beings to nature and describe it as a continuous cycle of life and death. Nature’s death and rebirth is always being revisited.”
He continued: “I think why it resonates and connects so well with a lot of people around the planet is because the focus is not on re-enacting the past or trying to be Vikings again; it’s about taking this old wisdom, knowledge and culture and presenting it with a contemporary relevance and in a contemporary soundscape.”
