Eivør’s home, the Faroe Islands, is a small island country in the North Atlantic, which was populated by Scandinavians in the Viking Age. Originally incorporated into the Norwegian kingdom in the medieval period, the Faroese have found themselves subject to foreign rule for over 1000 years. Today, the country is a semi-autonomous part of the Danish kingdom, but it has had its own government since 1948. Eivør is strongly inspired by the Faroese natural scenery and traditional culture. It is a land of extremes, full of contrasts, with heavy, dark winters, and bright, joyful summers. Growing up in a small village among the characteristic steep cliffs and grassy hills, Eivør is deeply inspired by the unique Faroese landscape and its vibrant traditional folk music. Despite centuries of foreign rule, the Faroese folk culture has persevered, especially through communal singing and dancing. This cultural resilience in the face of a harsh nature and foreign dominance strongly informs Eivør’s music: “A very strong part of Faroese culture is singing together—anywhere people gather, there will be singing,” Eivør explains. “When you listen to old Faroese traditional music, it’s sung acapella and takes you back to its Renaissance roots. It’s pure, expressive, and untamed.”

Often considered to be one of the most prolific and unique Nordic artists of her generation, Eivør has released 11 studio albums to date, crossing musical genres and always pushing the bounds of the expected. Awarded with the Nordic Council Music Price in 2021, Eivør’s musical journey continues to fascinate.

After independently releasing her music for many years, ENN marks Eivør’s debut for the metal label Season of Mist—and though her compositions sit outside of any one genre, she is happy to be embraced by the metal community. She identified a shared pagan sensibility in her television scores like The Last Kingdom. “I never felt I really fit into any box,” said Eivør. “I just have to do it my own way.” Recorded with her touring band in the Faroe Islands—where she now lives again, splitting time between her homeland and Denmark—Eivør called ENN “my most pleasurable and also most painful process. I felt that I was stepping into a place where I hadn’t been before, and that’s always scary because you don’t feel that you touch the ground. But it opens up your creativity and takes you to someplace new. It’s woven together all my experiences for the past 10 years, and it’s grounded me.”