Kari Rueslåtten is celebrating 20 years in music in 2014 by releasing a brand new studio album: Time to tell. This will be her first album release in eight years, following the single release Why so lonely featuring Nightwish’s Tuomas Holopainen on piano and keys.
Kari was one of the founder members of the progressive doom metal band The 3rd and the Mortal. The band was a source of inspiration for many other bands worldwide, among them Nightwish and The Gathering. After leaving The 3rd and the Mortal in 1995 she has released four solo-albums; Spindelsinn (1997), Mesmerized (1998), Pilot (2001) and Other people’s stories (2004). She then decided to take a break. What made her start making music again?
- "What really triggered me to start making music again were all the kind messages I got from fans around the world asking me when new music would surface. I am most humble and grateful to find that there are people out there who have followed my music since my early beginning, back in The 3rd and the Mortal-days, and through all my solo-albums. “
Time to tell
Monday 3rd of March is the release-date for Time to tell, an all-acoustic album consisting of 11 songs. -“The composing has been done by me sitting at the piano singing. No drum-beats or co-composers this time! I wanted to go back to the core of songwriting. If the verse and chorus works just accompanied by the piano – it will work with other arrangements in studio too.”
The album has been recorded and produced at Øra Studio in Trondheim with producer Jostein Ansnes. He has won several Norwegian Grammys for his earlier productions and is also a well-known guitarists. The production on Time to tell stretches from Kari’s voice accompanied only by the piano to a full band set-up with dark and mellow tremolo-guitars and pump organ. The main musicians on the album are Jostein Ansnes - guitars, Rune Arnesen - drums, Trygve Brøske - piano and pump organ and Eirik Øien - upright bass.
There is one cover-version of a song on the album, Why so lonely. This is a song from 1994, released on The 3rd and the Mortal’s album Tears laid in earth. - “I decided to look back in time and make a cover version of one of my favorite songs from the early years. In a way, it can be seen as a tribute to those who have showed interest in my music through so many years”, Kari continues.
Kari’s voice
Kari’s natural talent combined with classical training and roots in the Norwegian folk music tradition has resulted in a voice that is difficult to describe. Her music has been compared with artists like Tori Amos and Kate Bush, maybe not necessarily because the music sounds very similar, but because these are artists who sing with their own distinct voices. Just like Kari Rueslåtten.