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ANE BRUN has announced details of a brand new single, ‘DON’T RUN AND HIDE’, which will be released by her label, Balloon Ranger Recordings, on February 28, 2020. It’s the first taste of her as-yet-untitled eighth studio album, which will represent her first of original material since 2015’s acclaimed When I’m Free, which took her Top Five in both her native Norway and her adopted homeland of Sweden. Due in stores this autumn, it follows 2017’s exquisite collection of cover versions, Leave Me Breathless. BRUN embarks on a lengthy European tour in October.
‘DON’T RUN AND HIDE’ was the first track written specifically for the new album, and it finds BRUN offering support to someone in a dark place, encouraging them not to isolate themselves: “Don’t run and hide,” she sings with trademark compassion, “Take a peek outside/ I’m here for you.” Like some of When I’m Free, the emotionally charged song reflects BRUN’s love for trip hop, but also nods to contemporary acts including SiR, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson Paak and Solange for inspiration. “I wanted this to ‘stand on the shoulders’ of When I’m Free,” she explains, “and kind of look across over Leave Me Breathless and beyond. The key to our vision was emotional music that also makes you want to move.”
A shape-shifting tune distinguished by a haunting, eastern-tinged melody and gently swelling strings, ‘DON’T RUN AND HIDE’ is founded upon a simple premise. “Many of the songs I like are based around a single bassline that repeats itself,” BRUN explains, “yet the melody remains accessible and interesting throughout. That’s as true of the old baroque arias I’ve covered by Purcell (‘Dido’s Lament’, ‘Laid in Earth’) and Monteverdi (‘Lamento Della Ninfa (Oh Love)’) as of Beyoncé’s ‘Halo’. It brings a sense of boundlessness I find liberating.”
Produced by BRUN alongside Anton Sundell (co-producer, Leave Me Breathless) and long-term collaborator Martin Hederos, the song also features Hederos on keyboards as well as Samuel Starck (synth), Anna Lund (drums, percussion), Per Eklund (drums, percussion) and Isabel (triangle). Strings were arranged by Daniel Migdal, and the album was mixed and mastered by Grammy and Mercury-nominated Prash ‘Engine-Earz’ Mistry, with whom Brun also wrote ‘The Light From One’, included on 2011’s It All Starts With One.
As is typical with BRUN, who rarely repeats herself, her tour later this year will find her performing with a new configuration of musicians. “I’ve played with three of them – Per Eklund (drums), Martin Hederos (keyboards), Johan Lindström (keyboards, pedal steel, guitars) – a lot,” she elaborates, “but this time we’ll be joined by three new members: Felisia Westberg (bass), Lovisa Samuelsson (cello, percussion) and Øyunn (drums). I want to keep the energy from 2016’s Directions tour and build on it, but also find space for the softer side of me. Plus, of course, there’ll be a couple of covers!”
ANE BRUN’S 2020 tour lines up as follows:
01.10 HELSINKI Savoy Teater
03.10 VÄSTERÅS Konserthuset
09.10 ÖREBRO Konserthuset
10.10 MALMÖ Live Konserthus
14.10 STOCKHOLM Cirkus
16.10 UPPSALA UKK
20.10 BERGEN Grieghallen-Peer Gynt
21.10 STAVANGER Konserthus-Zetlitz
23.10 OSLO Sentrum Scene EXTRA
24.10 OSLO Sentrum Scene SOLD OUT
25.10 TRONDHEIM Olavshallen
04.11 VIENNA VUK
05.11 MUNICH Technikum
06.11 ZURICH Rote Fabrik
08.11 BERN Bierhübeli
09.11 OFFENBACH Capitol
10 11 COLOGNE Carlswerk
12.11 BERLIN Metropol
13.11 HAMBURG Fabrik
20.11 COPENHAGEN Store Vega
22.11 THE HAGUE Paard
23.11 GRONINGEN Oosterport
25.11 NIJMEGEN Doornroosje
26.11 AMSTERDAM Melkweg
27.11 BRUSSELS Orangerie
28.11 PARIS Alhambra
06.12 DUBLIN Vicar St
08.12 GLASGOW St Luke’s
09.12 MANCHESTER Academy 2
10.12 LONDON Shepherds Bush Empire