Beharie

About

" Soft, stylish, cuddly indie-soul paeans "

When you learn what Norwegian singer-songwriter Beharie listened to growing up, it’s not hard to see why he makes the music he makes. Classic R&B, hip-hop, and reggae royalty such as The Fugees, Sting, and Bob Marley were all on the menu. Timeless soul singers too. Yet it took him a while to find his musical feet: it wasn’t until he moved to Oslo, and teamed up with rising Norwegian producer and childhood friend Trygve Stakkeland, that his writing – and solo career – really started to take shape.

 Since then, he’s been making up for lost time, honing his unique talent on a string of acclaimed singles and EPs. Blessed with a warm, honeyed croon, his releases to date have blended blissful indie folk, rich soul, poppy R&B, heart-breaking ballads, and jaunty, upbeat acoustic numbers. “Beharie pulls the strings between the rawness of soul and the melodic and experimental lines from pop, indie, and the singer songwriter genre,” said the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, at which he has made two appearances.

All of this is on display on his debut album, ‘Are You There, Boy?’, a concept album about “a complex character longing for true connections” that weaves together narratives of identity, queer love, self-assurance, vulnerability, and loneliness. Heady stuff, but it’s a mesmerising, enchanting listen. No wonder, then, that in addition to Montreux, he’s played the main stage at Øyafestivalen, performed at the opening ceremony of Norway’s National Museum, and is about to undertake a four-month headline European tour. The future’s bright – the future’s Beharie’s.