Queensland sister country duo Innocent Eve are back showcasing their raw and honest storytelling.
Innocent Eve are back with their emotion-provoking sophomore album. The entirely self-penned album showcases the country duo’s perspectives on love, life, people and the world. Bec and Rachel Olsson, the sisters behind Innocent Eve, both contribute to the album in equal parts, collaborating in every aspect of the writing and recording process.
With their latest release, the sisters have used their own experiences of heartbreak, hurt, love and loneliness to bring audiences raw and honest storytelling accompanied with beautiful country-inspired melodies carefully produced by ARIA award-winner Matt Fell.
The album provides a number of carefully-crafted and curated country tracks that are sure to move listeners and leave them coming back for more. Whether it is the track ‘Comfort of Your Arms’ which feels like a warm hug, or ‘Running for My Life’ which invokes feelings of escapism and driving in the car with the music up loud and the windows down, Innocent Eve has ensured there is something for every listener with Viking.
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The highly anticipated new album from the Americana/alt-country duo comes off the back of their last EP True North, released in 2016, and after a whirlwind 2020, the album’s release is especially momentous: “We are so happy to be sharing it,” expressed the pair.
The album has not come without challenges for the pair, facing Bec’s ongoing battle with cancer and the effect of COVID on many creatives, the album’s release date has had to be pushed back multiple times. In fact, the duo began recording the album in November 2018, and the record was completed by late 2019.
The Olsson sisters were also faced with the challenge of geography, living some 600kms apart for most of Viking‘s writing process. It’s clear the highly anticipated album comes off the back of a few challenging years for the pair, which is evident in the raw emotion and honesty weaved through the record’s songwriting.
“In the past, there were big changes and adaptations to those songs, but we found with this album, as we’ve grown as songwriters, there is much less modification needed. I guess we’re just getting better at our craft or growing in confidence as songwriters,” the pair expressed.
The duo put a lot of love into their craft, explaining that since they are independent artists, they only have themselves and their fans to answer to, giving them more freedom in their songwriting process.
“We write because we feel intrinsically compelled to write, not because we have any external pressure to. We also absolutely love the process of bringing new songs to life.”
The album explores a slightly different sound for the pair, with them coining Chris Stapleton as one of their big inspirations for the overall sound of the album.
“At the time we were listening to a lot of Chris Stapleton and Foy Vance, so they may have rubbed off in the overall sound,” Innocent Eve explain, nodding to the folk, rock and even Celtic influences evident throughout the album.
The duo has a long list of accolades to their name. After their 2020 single, the soulful ‘Mixed Bag’, debuted at number three on the AMRAP Regional Airplay Charts, it’s no surprise the album’s title track ‘Viking’ is following suit. The song spent 16 weeks in the 2TM Top 20, including a week in the number one spot.
With Viking already off to a stellar start, it’s sure to rack up more accolades as we go along. Add the band’s strong fanbase and their industry repute, it will be fascinating to see where Innocent Eve take things next.
Viking is out now. Give it a listen below and keep up to date with Innocent Eve via their website, Instagram and Facebook.
