biography

Finn Coren
Amid the pines and the poplars, the elms and the birches, lies a house. The neighbours stare and wonder. Differently-attired people and their improbable sedans come and go at all hours. In violation of local codes, the snow piles over the mailbox and there are grapefruit rinds on the lawn. In the house, activity goes on unabated. For years this has been the production centre of some of the most beautiful musical pieces I have ever come across. Here Finn Coren creates his art.
The myths of the undiscovered genius have always appeared through history covering all types of art. Even in the music world the odd Van Gogh and Gaughin equivalent can at times appear, although underground magazine journalists have done their best to bring them to the surface. One genius that, despite phenomenal acclaim, loiters still in the shadow is Finn Coren.
Imagine the archaeologist that suddenly stumbled across an undiscovered pyramid. I felt the same way the first time I put Finn Coren's debut album "The Echoing Green" on the record player. The year was 1989, and I knew right away that this was an artist I would follow for many years. It wasn't just the incredible melodic splendour it presented, but also the audacious way he added theatrical elements, something which at the time was almost frowned upon in the music press. The debut single "My Life Is My Art" had a particularly creepy soupcon that only Bowie in his most mysterious moods managed to create - the vision of a character going a bit "off the rails", but still able to thrill the unknowing bystanders.
The following year, he had teamed up with Trøst, a fellow poetry-freak from the north-west of Norway, to make "A Full Moon In March", a project dedicated to put music to William Butler Yeats' poems. The budget this time was larger, allowing Coren to take a rather more symphonic approach in his arrangements, with amazing results. This would have been the album that in a normal music career would take an artist to international heights. Coming from Norway, it unfortunately would mean years of networking if ever to achieve such a feat.
Coren, painfully aware of this, travelled to America, both bringing his 2 albums and demos for a third. People he played it to were enormously impressed. Lenny Kravitz' manager Stephen E. Smith even agreed to help out, presenting it to the A&Rs of several of the multinational labels. Elektra was ready to sign, but last minute staff changes put everything on hold.
After many trips to LA and months of waiting around, Finn Coren returned to Oslo, continuing to fine-tune the follow up, which this time was to be music based on William Blakes' poems. Determined to make this the ultimate masterpiece he twisted, re-recorded and re-mixed it endlessly. And when he finally was satisfied - seven years had passed since the A Full Moon In March release. Finn Coren The Blake Project came out as two albums released in quick succession. "Spring" and "Spring: The Appendix" were music of a kind no Scandinavian artist had previously come up with, managing to find a way of interpreting the old master were the soundscape felt as if made for it. The albums also epitomized a return to the quirkier sides of Coren's debut. "The Fly", particularly, presented a bizarre, folky twist to an otherwise rather modern beat, with Coren's spooky whispering leaving one a bit uncertain where he's heading. The Blake Project received phenomenal acclaim, but still failed to make its deserved impact outside the Norwegian borders.
In Norway "Spring" was nominated for a Grammy (Spellemannsprisen), but apart from having the videos for "The Sick Rose" and "Spring" circulated on MTV-Europe, the albums, due to poor distribution, were not able to reach a broader international audience. They however received standing ovations in Blake circles around the world, and the albums have since been used as an educational tool at several Universities in the US and Canada.
1999 brought another amazing album, this time with Coren returning as a lyricist. "Lovecloud" was a slightly darker affair, almost bringing Tolkien-esque visions of astonishing green fields and slimy creatures, like in the fabulous "Dwarfman". To this date "Lovecloud" remains my favourite.
Thankfully, I've been informed, the story doesn't end there. 2004 has an exciting new release on the agenda, with Coren for the first time taking on the works of a Norwegian poet, Olav H. Hauge. Also in the pipeline, is another Yeats album, picking up where he left off in 1990 with A Full Moon In March. 2004 promises to be a glorious year for those of us that have stumbled across this astonishing pleasant-sounding discovery.

Stig Jakobsen, Fjords Magazine