Herald K - Arethusa (single)
How best describe Herald K as a musical artist? A Folk Noir singer/songwriter might just capture it. Born in Bergen, Norway, into a family of sailors, he soon set out for other shores, and has since lived in England, Sweden and Austria. His current centre of gravity: Vienna. While his lyrics may allude to ancient poets, they're often conveyed trough a simple 3-chord composition. Traces of Americana are there, yet it has a European feel too. If Leonard Cohen is an influence, Hank Williams and Ovid would have to be mentioned also. Herald K's uniqueness is his way of combining sources of inspiration such as these.
His debut album, 'Strange Delights' was released with Lindo Records (Vienna) in 2019. Ten new songs will be released as an album titled 'Mythologies' in autumn 2022. Various musicians from and around Vienna contribute on these recordings, most prominently Stephan Steiner (Hotel Palindrone, Harlequin's Glance, Cantlon).
The story is about a nymph. One day she takes a bath in a river. What she doesn't know is that this river is also a god. This rivergod is taken with a passion for Arethusa, and she has to try her best to escape him. Eventually she manages to do so, by transforming her own body into an underground stream that sprouts out in Syracusa, Sicily.
Those places connected to this myth are all real: Alpheus (the river) is in the western Peleponnese in Greece. And the Arethusa fountain can be found in the cental square of modern-day Syracusa, Sicily. Herald K has travelled to those places and seen them!
Herald's voice on this release is delicate and invites the listeners to go deeper, beyond the words and let them be touched by the power of art. It shows an immense strength of the spoken word and in this case adds to the intimacy and resonance of the track. The nyckelharpa sounds lay down the atmosphere of the flowing water and splashing as the nymph bathes within. This is not just a song. It's a celebration of beauty.