Biography

THE VOICE OF THE ARCTIC NORTH

STRONG, SWEET & EARTHLY
Eliksir was initiated by songwriter and vocalist Elin Synnove Brathen in 2003. Project name "Eliksir" originates from Elin's mispronunciation of her name as a child. She called herself "Elik" and referred to herself in the third person. "Elik says" thus became "Elik sir" in her northern Norwegian accent. Eliksir taken as "elixir" (magic potion) also fits to describe the music. Her versatile background with different music styles is given a distinct voice through songwriting for Eliksir. Elin comes from the Arctic north of Norway, growing up in a big family on a small farm surrounded by wildlife. Always burningly excited about music she played several instruments in her youth (trumpet and classical piano). She also sang with different choirs and ensembles, and was constantly given more and more challenging solo parts. Due to a change in her life Elin decided to focus on writing songs and singing. She moved to the south of Norway to study music at the University of Agder. There she invited into the concept a handful of talented male musicians with whom she studied, and started developing the material in collaboration with them. Upon recording 5 tracks for an EP in 2004 they connected with producer Oystein Sevag. He embarked on the Eliksir-project with enthusiasm and soon realized that the material would turn into a full length album, not just an EP. Throughout 2005 and 2006 Eliksir gave concerts and Elin wrote more songs, concurrently recording bits and pieces at Musikkloftet Studio in Oslo. The first album "Earthly Things" was released in 2007 on the producer's label "Siddhartha Records". The album has received remarkable and unexpected appraisal from abroad, especially the UK and Ireland. Eliksir video "Fairytale" (directed by Harald Sando, edited at Glamfish Productions) was aired on SKY Cuetracks for 3 months after winning the Exposure Music Awards 2008. During the last year Elin has worked on a number of new songs - polishing her songsmith qualities and dreaming dreams for lyric-writing. The next Eliksir album is now in the making. Title: THE ANCHOR & THE DREAM. Planned release is January 2010. The new album is accompanied by 4 new music videos filmed on locations in Ireland in 2009.

MAGICMIRROR REVIEWS ELIKSIR
Seldomly (or never) have I seen such generosity of expression when giving an artist-appraisal. This review of Eliksir's "Earthly Things" was submitted by Magicmirror for iTunes: Headline: UNBELIEVABLE: "What a voice, or rather voices - that range. Only matched by her own song writing skills, both music and lyrics. New age veteran Oystein Sevaag's production honours all the facets, acoustics and powers of Elin Synnove Brathen's voice and songwriting. Think not for a moment that this is new age. This is pop music and rock art. At the same time, it's music for a jazz audience. Eliksir's debut album renders the originality of Tori Amos completely aimless, the ancient powerhouse of Mari Boine's a mere fart in a sub arctic storm, the beauty of Joni Mitchell's simply mediocre. It must be hard for this debutant to break through. Nobody will want her for an opening act on stage. They won't need to listen to much of this album to conclude: the audience will be talking about the opening act throughout the whole concert. Now, I'll stop writing, and play the album again, end to end to repeat."

UPCOMING 2009 ALBUM
After following up the release of debut album "Earthly Things", songwriter and vocalist Elin Synnøve Bråthen has once again gathered the band and joined forces with producer Øystein Sevåg. The selection of songs for the next album was done during the autumn months of 2008, after a rather productive period writing music and lyrics. The songs for the upcoming 2009 album will be more shaped and directed towards radioplay. However, the material remains true to the Eliksir concept. As always, Elin has dug into her dream-notes to find inspiration for lyric-writing... The first recording sessions were in November and December 2008 at Musikkloftet Studio in Oslo. In mid-February Eliksir will pick up the work. The plan is to wrap up the production by first week of April; release date will be around August 2009.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Eliksir is mainly within the pop genre, but mixes into the music flavours of world (especially Celtic) and jazz. Songwriter and vocalist Elin Synnøve Bråthen has had some great inspirations through the years, artists like Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Sting and Loreena McKennitt have all had an impact. The list of inspirations is long and also includes artists like ABBA, Supertramp, Beatles, A-HA, Bel Canto, Yellowjackets, Jethro Tull, Renaissance, Rush, Mary Black, Claude Debussy, Keane, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band and a lot more...

Contact
elin@eliksir.org

EARTHLY THINGS & DREAMS
The songs for this album were created dreaming while keeping the feet on the ground. The themes are universal – Eliksir writes about things that concern every man and woman: human relations, love, loss, hope. Although melody-making always came effortless, working out the lyrics was hard until Eliksir paid more attention to her dreams. In these she found apt scenarios for lyric-writing. All the lyrics for Earthly Things are carved from her dreams. This goes for the track At the Station where a woman is roaming about at the train station looking for her loved one, as well as for the progressive rock and Arabic influenced Harbour Song, where secret lovers separated by class distinction are fighting the barriers keeping them apart – all set in a desert-like landscape with temples, horses, lanterns and sorcery.

THE SOUND OF ELIKSIR
Eliksir takes the listener on an adventurous journey. The songs move through a wide-stretched musical terrain, wherein Eliksir mixes different musical styles into a sophisticated and melodious expression of her own – the contemporary nostalgia, a potion brewed on elements from Pop, Jazz, Rock, Celtic and World. The lyrics are spun from her dreams, making the images and stories fairytale-like as well as personal. After 18 years of running Siddhartha Records, and previously exclusively putting out his own albums, Oystein Sevag now releases Eliksir on his label: “As a singer she has an unusual range of expressions spanning from the powerfully ethnical to the charmingly mild and sweet. As a songwriter she combines the natural melodic with refined compositions full of surprises. This lady has a lot to tell. The versatility is held together by her strong credibility as a singer”, says Oystein Sevag. The sound is modern and at the same time nostalgic, blending programmed ingredients into a warm layer of acoustic instruments. Eliksir vocalist and songwriter Elin has surrounded herself with a collection of accredited musicians. The following four are her present band: Hilmar Kristoffersen: keyboards, grand piano and vintage synthesizers, Glenn Phillip Nilsen: bass, Trygve Tambs-Lyche: drums and percussion, and Haldor Royne: guitars. Internationally well-known musicians such as Bendik Hofseth on additional vocals, accordion-player Kristin Skaare and cello-player Aage Kvalbein have added great touches to some of the songs on this album. Oystein Sevag has contributed with programming and keyboards. One of the songs include sound samples of whales, dolphins and the Atlantic, collected from the Azorean whale watching base Espaço Talassa. The arrangements have been developed in collaboration with the musicians and producer Sevag. All vocal arrangements are done by Eliksir.

ELIKSIR GOING ABROAD
Eliksir was introduced to different foreign record companies and distributors in Cannes and Berlin (Midem & Popkomm) in 2007, who have responded very positively to her material. The Hong Kong record company Silk Road will be releasing Earthly Things in the south-eastern Asian territory in 2009. Eliksir has recorded a bonus track in Chinese (a traditional Chinese song) for this licensed edition. In the meantime the Hong Kong label has licensed the track Fairytale for a trade sampler and compilation. The music video for the bittersweet Fairytale can be viewed on www.myspace.com/eliksir or www.eliksir.org. The video is made by Harald Sando at Glamfish Productions, and it won the UK EMA award in 2008, and was aired on SKY Cuetracks for 3 months.

MORE REVIEWS ON EARTHLY THINGS:
Zobb Music Magazine: She clearly means every word she sings, and she sings about personal and intimate things. Earthly Things is a strong collection of songs that allows the listener to paint his or her own pictures. The songs convey feelings of pain, longing and sorrow, but also optimism and pleasure. Maybe these songs demand too much of the audience of little Norway, but I believe that many will find this music both exotic and intriguing outside our country borders.

Track review by Jon A. Arnesen for Magic Mirror:
Harbour Song is a showcase of vocal and melodic strength beyond the mixture of Celtic Progressive Rock New-Age Jazz, way beyond the ability of still obvious references such as Loreena McKennitt and the legendary Bulgarian Norwegian singer Radka Toneff. It is a bit bitter to see how the voices of Silje Nergaard and Rebekka Bakken reach beyond the borders of Norway, when this extreme talent is pretty much a well kept secret, even from Norwegian ears. Pretentious artist name until you hear her voice, a true elixir hereby prescribed.

Album review on Earthly Things by Gerry Casey at Studio7 Ireland for The Irish World, London, UK:
“I save a raindrop from sinking in the sand” – the first line of Eliksir’s (Elin Synnove Brathen) opening track, Raindrop Song from her stunning debut album “Earthly Things”. A track in which the Norwegian singer / songwriter introduces us to the element of water that ebbs and flows so effortlessly throughout this wonderful collection of songs, mixing as it does elements of Pop, Jazz, Rock, Celtic and World music; A mixture that she herself describes as “a potion of contemporary nostalgia”. And a most potent potion it certainly is. (…) An amazingly talented Composer / Singer / Songwriter, herself hauntingly beautiful with such an incredible voice, she can most certainly take her place among the top contemporary female artists of today - or any day for that matter.

Other Websites:
www.eliksir.org
www.myspace.com/eliksir
www.tourdates.co.uk/eliksir