SHOWCASE: KATE HAVNEVIK

"Misbehaviour could be your saviour."


I stumbled across Norwegian beauty Kate Havnevik via the work done by Alexandra Patsavas as music supervisor for TV drama Grey's Anatomy. Patsavas heard her and knew she was something special, and Havnevik's work has popped up sporadically since on the show. She even created "Grace" (see below) for the second season finale. Her debut album, Melankton, was released for the first time in 2006, and apparently she's got two more in the works. I've been waiting with bated breath for more from her, and the waiting has paid off; she's going to release another album this year.

Her work is beautiful, soaring stuff, sometimes straying into electronica, but all of it features her wonderful voice.

Kate Havnevik - Grace
Album: Grey's Anatomy Season 2 Soundtrack

Havnevik's most powerful composition, written and released specifically for the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack, it recounts the empty, lost feeling of someone who has just lost someone they loved. It's quiet and powerful and real, as she struggles to find exactly what to say. It's very low key, full of humming and faraway noises, recreating the feeling of everything being quiet, far away. She sounds so confused, stumbling through a world that she no longer understands.

Kate Havnevik - Nowhere Warm
Album: Melankton

One of the more heartbreaking songs Havnevik has produced, this song is from the perspective of a woman waiting for her lover to rush to her side. It's full of yearning, and the piano and Havnevik's clear vocals raise to a beautiful crescendo. You can hear the need in her voice, and you know that no matter how fast he races, it won't be fast enough for her. I feel a chill just listening to it.

Kate Havnevik - Disobey
Album: Unreleased (For future "Pop" album)

After two melancholy songs, this one is a bit happier, with Havnevik's protagonist setting aside her fear of risk, realising that if you do nothing extraordinary you can't see "what the world looks like from above". For the first real time, she even sounds a little sexy, with a nice little beat accompanying the song. This has been the theme of my life for the past month or two, after deciding to be a bit more adventurous.

Kate Havnevik - So:Lo
Album: iTunes Release

Kate Havnevik gets a bit lonely here, with her lover leaving her alone to think about "love affairs everywhere" and how there's only one person who can really make her happy. You can feel a nice vibe between her and the subject, though they never respond, and it's a nice song. The title is interesting, too, because she's not only "solo", alone, but "so low", in that she's pretty depressed about the whole state of affairs.

Kate Havnevik - New Day
Album: Melankton

To cap this off, the epic "New Day", which shows off Havnevik's more electronic side. This really does feel like a sunrise, with the mournful strings and brass slowly giving into the sparks of electronic beats. You can imagine Havnevik standing on her porch, looking out over the horizon and feeling the chilly morning as she watches the sunrise.

Now, give those a listen and if you like what you hear, check out her album, "Melankton". It's a keeper, though I've only teased it here.