LILLE VENN Releases Debut EP Whatever, Together Out Now via Little Friend Big World
"In a short time has become one of the country's most interesting artists” - Jørgen Hegstad, P13
"Makes me want to go and see this performed in front of thousands in a stadium” - Eskil Olaf Vestre, P3
"Simple, but equally catchy and effective…emo and feelgood at the same time” - Stavanger Aftenbladet
“Crying out for more exposure; the mainstream potential is enormous” - The Soundboard
“Her songs bring incredible amounts of honesty and maturity” - Bands of Tomorrow
“Killer hits…flying the flag for the Nordic-Rock revival” - YUCK Magazine
“Such a fantastic EP” - Distorted Sound [9/10]LILLE VENN Releases Debut EP Whatever, Together Out Now via Little Friend Big World
Listen on Soundcloud - HERE
Watch The Video For Title Track From Norwegian Pop Rock Newcomer’s Slick Debut
Watch the visualiser: https://youtu.be/60iQ_cuXcN0
Stream and share: https://linktr.ee/lillevenn
Select Norwegian Festival Appearances On Sale Now
Norwegian pop rock newcomer Lille Venn (aka Helene Brunæs) has today released her debut EP Whatever, Together out now via Little Friend Big World.
To celebrate the news, the songwriter has today revealed a video for title track ‘Whatever, Together’ which follows on from stellar singles ‘Sleepover Song’ and follow up ‘Mourning Sickness’.
Commenting on the EP, Brunæs says: “Whatever, Together is the diary I kept while I was in the belly of the beast of grief and trying to find steady ground after having the rug ripped out from under me—diary entries about losing friends, family members, a sense of belonging and being in too deep to even ask for help.”
“It’s an attempt to reconnect myself with friends and family after feeling isolated and only having conversations with them in my head because I was too afraid to have them out loud. It’s about knowing you’re one of many people around you who are trying their best, and trying to be the best version of yourself with them, whatever that may be.”
“If you can’t have a good day, you just need to have a day. It’s one day at a time, or an hour, or a minute or a second—it’s whatever is going to get you out of the belly of the beast. It’s going back to a good memory, or a song you listened to on repeat for weeks in high school, and using it as your superpower. They’re sad songs made to help me feel better, and hopefully someone else if they need it.”
Written in her bedroom at her parents’ house in Sandefjord, Norway during the pandemic between 2019 and 2021, the EP was recorded with producer Zac Korval at Lunara Studio in Connecticut, USA in the absurdly hot summer of 2021. “Recording the vocals was one of my favourite memories about recording the EP,” says Brunæs of the process. “I could finally unleash years of therapeutic writing into a room while knowing my best friends were listening on the other side.”
Lille Venn is already receiving national radio play and press in her native Norway, with coverage from daily newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad, highly respected music site Bands of Tomorrow, and national radio stations P3 and P13.
The EP and singles have so far picked up early UK support from alternative tastemakers at LOUD WOMEN, Distorted Sound, The Soundboard, Yuck Magazine, Alt Corner, Dansende Beren, and radio support from Absolute Radio, idobi Anthm, Amazing Radio, and Student Music Network, where ‘Mourning Sickness’ reached #5 on the Student Radio Chart.
Lille Venn will be playing select Norwegian festivals over the coming months, with plans for UK appearances in the near future (see below for listings).
Debut EP Whatever, Together is out now via Little Friend Big World
Lille Venn Live Dates:
20.04.23 - Norway, Volda - X2 Festivalen
05.05.23–06.05.23 - Norway, Oslo - Oslo Indiefest
03.06.23 - Norway, Oslo - Musikkfest Oslo
Whatever, Together EP tracklist:
1. Whatever, Together
2. I Blew My Friends Off!!
3. What Would I Do
4. Mourning Sickness
5. Sleepover Song
6. Not D3@d
7. I Hate You, I Miss You
Lille Venn online:
http://linktr.ee/lillevenn
http://www.instagram.com/lillev3nn
More info:
Born in Norway, a young Lille Venn and her family moved to Singapore when she was just 2 years old. Confused and overwhelmed by the starkly different cultural climate, it was an experience that would see her stop talking for an entire year. Eventually, she learned to love her new home, before the family upped-sticks all over again and moved to Sydney, Australia.
It was there, aged 9, that an early encounter with Canadian pop-rock icon Avril Lavigne set Brunæs on the path to becoming a songwriter. “My brother CK bought me tickets to see her for my 9th birthday,” she reminisces, “and I remember thinking so clearly that she waved right at me. I think I might have had an early God Complex, but whatever happened it sparked a fire in me: ‘I want to be her!’”
Lille Venn began writing music at 13 in her bedroom after school, “desperate to play guitar and be half as cool as my brother”, she laughs. She makes no secret of the fact that a large part of her musical influences come from her older brother, and spent her early teens both wearing his clothes and steeping herself in music from his favourite bands like Blink 182, The Cure, and The Shins.
Several years later and it’s safe to say that her dream of pop-stardom looks increasingly likely to become a reality, with Lille Venn peddling an infectious, radio-friendly brand of arena-ready pop punk/rock that blurs the lines between the music of Blink 182 and Say Anything, and her love of mainstream pop artists like Taylor Swift, Hilary Duff, and The 1975.
Most recently living in London and New York, where she studied at college, Lille Venn’s music is infused with the trauma and sadness that she endured over those years of wandering—growing apart from friends, and growing up in the process.
“I think those years of moving influenced my songwriting a lot,” she muses on the cathartic nature of her own songwriting process. “I didn’t realise how much sense of a lack of belonging was prevalent in my lyrics until I wrote them all out and read them back to myself.”
Lille Venn’s forthcoming debut EP Whatever, Together follows on from her stellar 2022 standalone singles ‘Not D3@d’ and ‘I Blew My Friends Off!’, which gained support from Norwegian national radio stadio P3.
The new tracks also come with visualisers created by Lille Venn along with her family, who enjoy a multi-generational creative working relationship. Coming from a homegrown clan of talented professional creatives, all of the visual output associated with her music is created by the family, something that’s close to the songwriter’s heart.
“We’re so close because we all went through these big experiences and moves together, but no matter where we are we always have each other,” says Brunæs of her family ties. “We were all, in our own way, the new kids. People didn’t want to get attached to us because we were never staying for too long. I feel so lucky to have a family who is so supportive, it was just second nature to work with them—we’re all creative in our own right, but we can come together and support each other’s work and visions on our projects in a very collaborative way.”
Listen to previous single ‘Sleepover Song’:
Watch here - https://youtu.be/10DJQsD0mPs
Stream and share - https://orcd.co/sleepover
