Siv Jakobsen

About

" Emotional Nordic folk with gorgeous instrumentation "

An emotional and confessional singer and songwriter whose music is an atmospheric blend of Nordic folk and indie pop, Siv Jakobsen has used both her talent and her own personal perspectives to build a critically acclaimed body of work.

Her third studio album, ‘Gardening’ (2023), is a stripped-down set of songs, delving into difficult themes like bleakness, doubt and fear, sung in a voice that is hauntingly ethereal. A sense of calmness that runs through it. ‘Romain’s Place’, for example, is a ballad about what seems to be domestic abuse: “Through it all there was a lot that kept me from leaving/ like your fists around my wrists…”. But there are also upbeat moments, like ‘Sun, Moon, Stars’, that sees Jakobsen joined by Ane Brun on vocals and a beautiful string outro: “You are the reason that I am alive”, suggesting there’s a light in the end of every tunnel. In fact, Jakobsen has said the same in ‘Dark’, from her debut EP, ‘The Lingering’.

Siv Jakobsen is based in Oslo, and trained in Boston’s Berklee College, where she found her folk pop identity. Soon, her life experiences became the themes of her work. Siv knows well that the best way to face a problem is to stare it in the eyes and acknowledge it. That’s where the healing begins. And that’s what she’s been doing, slowly-yet-steadily, from her first release in 2015 to 2020’s ‘A Temporary Soothing’, and now with  ‘Gardening’, while also touring extensively. Siv’s lyrics, vocals, pauses, breaths, fingerpicked acoustic guitar sound, and arrangements all come together to calm her bruises. With each of her albums, she opens up to us even more, evoking emotion with precision to amazing effect.