{"id":2066627,"date":"2026-07-29T02:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2066627"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:49:06","slug":"norways-fay-wildhagen-is-taking-the-independent-route-for-next-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2066627","title":{"rendered":"Norway\u2019s Fay Wildhagen Is Taking The Independent Route For Next Album"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tFay Wildhagen chose the right time, and the right place, to draw curtains on her 2024 project, Let\u2019s Keep It In The Family<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe award-winning Norwegian singer, songwriter and bandleader waved her \u201cfinal goodbye to that era\u201d with a headline performance earlier this month at the 2026 Bergtatt Festival, one stacked with songs from Family<\/em>, her third studio album, and rearranged fan favorites.<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s more new music to come. \u201cI have a bag full of demos that I\u2019m listening to in the car, and in hotel rooms. I feel like my head is so full of music,\u201d she tells Billboard<\/em> in a chat at the edge of the mighty Sognefjord fjord.<\/p>\n
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See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tThe next album will be independently released through the Orchard, on Wildhagen\u2019s own label, ending a 10-year partnership with Warner Music Norway.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt just feels cool to try something new, and just go for it,\u201d she enthuses. \u201cAnd just give it a real try before I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWildhagen is in sparkling form. Raised in Oslo, the capital, she signed with Warner Music Norway as a 21-year-old and released her Spellemannprisen-nominated debut album, Snow<\/em>, in 2015. Her sophomore album, Borders,<\/em> arrived in 2018, opening doors for critical praise and concerts across Europe. Fay produced the 2023 album M\u00f8tested \u2013 en hyllest til Anne Grete Preus<\/em>, and collected the Spellemannprisen (the Norwegian Grammys) for producer of the year \u2014 a moment that touched something deep inside.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI cried when they gave it to me,\u201d she recounts. \u201cNobody quite understands how much time goes into the writing, and the producing, just making and recreating sounds, turning and tossing them around, and trying things. For hours and hours and hours.\u201d Getting recognized for the work that few people see, \u201cyes, I cried a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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Family <\/em>was a seven-year itch. \u201cIt took time for me to find the right path for it. And find the home for it,\u201d she recalls. \u201cAnd also, it needed a lot of courage to write it properly, honest and true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Family<\/em>, she wrote, produced and arranged all 15 songs and its instruments, with the exception of the first single \u201cReason,\u201d which was co-written with \u00d8ystein Greni, frontman and main songwriter of the Norwegian rock band Bigbang.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>Fay Wildhagen and Billboard\u2019s Lars Brandle at 2026 Bergtatt Festival<\/span>Ingrid Marie Slettemoen<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tWith the studio calling this year, Wildhagen took a detour to enjoy the Bergtatt experience. The journey was something else. With her partner, Wildhagen drove from Oslo, 220 miles to the south, completed hair-raising mountain passes, all of it to tick-off that bucket-list item.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe boutique fest in Luster, Western Norway, presented on the banks of the epic fjord and surrounded by striking, snow-capped mountains, just might be most picturesque setting for a live music event, anywhere.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been a dream to come here for many years,\u201d she tells Billboard. <\/em>\u201cIt has never fit the schedule, so it\u2019s never just been right.\u201d The festival \u201cis one of these things that I\u2019ve always wanted to do. It\u2019s really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fay-wildhagen-bergtatt-festival-2026-cr-ingrid-marie-slettemoen-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Fay Wildhagen chose the right time, and the right place, to draw curtains on her 2024 project, Let\u2019s Keep It In The Family. The award-winning Norwegian singer, songwriter and bandleader waved her \u201cfinal goodbye to that era\u201d with a headline performance earlier this month at the 2026 Bergtatt Festival, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2066627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2066627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2066627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2066627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2066627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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