Anne Lise Frøkedal has been around the Norwegian music scene as a solo artist and as a musician with others for about 10 years. Lately she has put together her own band, Familien (the Family), and in February they released their debut album, Hold On Dreamer. Last night the band played support for a-ha in Oslo.

I have had the pleasure of seing and hearing Anne Lise Frøkedal many times since the first time, in 2007. Since then she was a member of I Was A King and Harry’s Gym, two of the most interesting indie bands in Norway the last years. In between this, Frøkedal also has played with other musicians and written songs for her bands.

Frøkedal & Familien is quite different from I Was A King and Harry’s Gym in that they are much more low key and introvert in style. The members of the band are Anne Lise Frøkedal on guitar and vocals, Olav Christer Rossebø and Ingeleiv Berstad on violin, Thea Glenton Raknes on drums and vocals, plus Erlend Ringseth on keyboard. The songs are also more introvert with an original sound because of the band’s instrumentation.

On stage they convey a good mood with Anne Lise Frøkedal on center stage as the singer. The band has no drum set, but Thea Glenton Raknes plays on two drums with mallets, producing the sound of a bass drum and a damped snare. There is no bass guitar, making the sound thinner and more transparent than we are used to. But it sounds surprisingly good anyway.

The last times I saw the band was at a small and packed bar in Trondheim – Moskus – a year ago, and at Oslo Fjordfest last summer. Last night I could see they had matured as a band, and the songs worked much better than last year. I have also had the pleasure of listening to Hold On Dreamer while writing this. The album is produced almost live in the studio, making it as close to the live experience as possible.

All photos are © Per Ole Hagen and must not be used without written permission.