Кейт Хавневик: Норвежская певица и композитор

Norwegian singer songwriter

Kate Havnevik (born 27 October 1975) is a Norwegian film composer, songwriter and singer. Her debut album, the critically acclaimed electronica infused Melankton, was released in March 2006 on iTunes and April 2006 (on physical CD) in Norway only, before being licensed internationally to Universal Republic USA later. Havnevik has successfully utilized PledgeMusic campaigns to fund some of her albums, including You, released October 2011, and &i, released March 2015. Her music has been prominently featured in TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy, The O. C., and The West Wing.

Kate Havnevik is the child of classical flautists Andrew Cunningham and Lotte Havnevik. She can play the piano, the guitar, and the melodica amongst other instruments. Earlier in life, she aspired to be a classical and jazz musician, much like her parents, who are both classically trained musicians. At 14, her goals shifted when she joined an all female punk rock band, rehearsing and playing at Oslo's illegally occupied club Blitz. The experience led her to pursue an interest in classical music mixed with modern electronica.

Havnevik set about working with producers to help hone her sound, the most famous of whom is Guy Sigsworth, part of Frou Frou, who has also worked with Imogen Heap, Madonna, Jem, Britney Spears, Björk and Alanis Morissette. Havnevik tracked down Sigsworth around in 2000, rang him and left phone messages, until one day he agreed to meet her. The pair have co written and recorded many songs together, some of which have been featured on Melankton, including "Unlike Me", "Not Fair" and "You Again", and some of which will be included on Havnevik's second album 'You', including "Disobey", which Havnevik premiered on her official web site. She describes Melankton as "dramatic, beautiful and euphoric", and deemed it the perfect introduction to her music, which is why it is being released first. The album title is from a character in a Norwegian book Havnevik was reading, and also translates to "black rose", which she says is very fitting for the album. Melankton was mastered in Devon, partly mixed in Los Angeles, partly mixed and recorded in London, Bratislava, Oslo, Reykjavík and Los Angeles. The album was premiered online on Havnevik's official web site for 48 hours from 11–12 March 2006, and was added to Apple Computer's iTunes music store on 27 March 2006. It was commercially released on CD on 3 April in Norway; a special UK edition, omitting "Someday", and instead including "Travel In Time", was released on 16 October 2006. The US edition, featuring a new song titled "Timeless", was released in the United States on 27 March 2007 exactly one year after its iTunes release. In addition to Sigsworth, Havnevik has also collaborated with Marius De Vries, who has previously worked with Björk and David Gray, Yoad Nevo, famous for his work with Welsh singer Jem, LA producer Carmen Rizzo and Petter Haavik from Norwegian techno group Ost&KJex. As well as her solo projects, Havnevik has also co written and provided guest vocals on the tracks "Only This Moment" and "Circuit Breaker" by Röyksopp, both featured on the album The Understanding. Havnevik also contributes vocals to Röyksopp's live EP, Röyksopp's Night Out. She co wrote and provided vocals on the track "Crazy", featured on mono band's 2005 self titled LP, a solo project of former Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan. Working extensively with Guy Sigsworth, she also provided backing vocals, (as a favor), to a Britney Spears track he produced, which was released in late 2005, entitled "Someday (I Will Understand)." On 5 December 2006 she made her first ever UK broadcast media appearance, on Janice Long's BBC Radio 2 show, performing "Unlike Me", "I Don't Know You" and "New Day." A collaboration she recorded with Carmen Rizzo, "Travel In Time", featured on Rizzo's album, The Lost Art Of The Idle Moment. The track was remixed for the UK edition of Melankton and featured on a season 3 episode of the FOX teen drama series "The O. C." and an episode of NBC TV show "Windfall". In 2010, Havnevik again collaborated with Rizzo on the track "This Life" on his "Looking Through Leaves" album.

Havnevik wrote and recorded another solo album, &i, released in March 2015, many of the songs having been co written and produced by long time collaborator Guy Sigsworth, but also featuring some new collaborators. Havnevik started a PledgeMusic campaign on 21 November 2014, which was run until the release date. The first single "Emperor Of Nowhere" was released on 24 November 2014. The video for Emperor Of Nowhere shows Havnevik in a black and white, darkly animated, scene. The video and song was well received and recommended on several UK music blogs, amongst them Q magazine. The video of her second single "Falling" was released on 6 February 2015.