Iceland’s Axel Flóvent teams up with Irish songwriter Ciaran Lavery to deliver a study in despair and longing.
Both Flóvent and Lavery have already established international reputations for sensitive introspection, with Lavery having racked up around a hundred million Spotify plays for his songs, while Flóvent isn’t far behind, with a profile in both Europe and the US that continues to grow apace.
Recently signed to Nettwerk Records, Flóvent wanted to work on an EP featuring guest vocalists from around the world. Having reached out to the Irish songwriter, Lavery responded with ‘Give In’, an almost fully-formed song that he suggested they finish together. Lavery was inspired to write a song that would work with what he describes as Flóvent’s “Fragile as cobweb” voice, and he has certainly succeeded. The deeply personal lyrics connected with Flóvent, but the Icelander recognised that it was so clearly Lavery’s story that they both had to sing this song together. The resulting track seems to bring out the best from both of them and their voices, while being quite distinctive, work particularly well together.
The video itself is about as simple as it gets: a study of Flóvent at work on one of his paintings, shot with a camera on a stand above, and then edited by a friend. That simplicity is its strength, with the palette knife’s loose smears of colours seem perfectly in keeping with the song. “The artwork is one painting in a collection that I’ve painted for this collaboration EP that I’m working on right now. I guess I don’t have a lot to say about it other than it’s a style I started playing around with painting knives when I was in art school and I thought it would be a fun little side project with this collab EP to have these paintings following the songs.”
Everything about ‘Give In’ points to two talented artists, well-matched in terms of the direction of their work and their commitment to their music. Fans of both Flóvent and Lavery will delighted by this beautiful and evocative collaboration.
