SIKADE, the Oslo-based artist and producer Linnea Vestre released “greedy heart” on June 18th, and it’s one of the most enchanting songs I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year, building on a steady stream of releases over the last two years, ahead of her debut album.
The instrumentation in this track IS stunning. Vestre plays harp, piano, electronics, and wind chimes throughout with Oskar Holldorff contributing acoustic and electric guitar, and the combination creates something that feels genuinely otherworldly, she brings you into her world and you don’t want to leave. The harp that plays throughout the track is delicate and brings you into a state of tranquility, and the way they sit alongside Holldroff’s guitar gives the song a lush quality. Vestre handles the mixing herself with Holldorff on mastering, and that closeness to the finished product shows how considerate Vestre and Holldorff are to their art.
Vestre’s voice is the other half of what makes the song special, and it is truly its own thing. Her voice is soft and unhurried, it moves with the harp that feels less like vocals and a combination of something beautiful all at the same time, many artists struggle to let their instrumentation flow within their vocals and she has mastered that. There is also a memorability to her voice that is hard to place, yet if you were to listen to her voice, you’d remember it’s hers. The standout moment to me is the way she delivers the ending of the song, “I wish I wrote a diary/ could bear to be-” and the way it sounds a tiny bit distorted. It’s so effervescent, and she really shows herself there.
Lyrically how I conveyed the song was about a yearning for a version of yourself you have not quite managed to become, like how she articulates herself where she says to another version of herself “someone who rides a bike, wakes up with the light, and keeps a diary. The song’s emotional weight ends up carried almost entirely by the production and Vestre’s beautiful voice. This song truly showcases Vestre’s talent sonically and instrumentally, it’s rare we see an artist sing and do their own instrumentals, and with that im excited to see what she has out next.
Check out her EP. greedy heart to hear more of her talent. 🙂
Written by Anthony Perez
