QSC Aspiring interview: Yndling on self-isolation, and new single ‘Fences’

Expertly blending jangle pop, shoegaze, ethereal Scandi-pop, trip-hop, and a whole lot more, Yndling is a Norwegian artist who has been prolifically releasing music since 2021. Following international spots at SXSW, New York, London, and Paris, it seems all her hard work with her releases and promotion on TikTok and other platforms is really coming to fruition. She chats to Headliner ahead of the release of her sophomore album, Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand), as well as her biggest UK tour yet.

Born Silje Espevik and now based in Oslo, she has been releasing music from the Yndling project voraciously since her 2021 debut single Childish Fear, which would appear on her self-titled extended play the following year. As an alternative artist exploring genres such as shoegaze, she might not seem like the most commercially TikTok-friendly artist, but she has played that game well, accruing over 26,000 followers across that platform and Instagram. This undoubtedly helped get her noticed by the likes of SXSW as well as her bookings in New York, London, and Paris.

Her EP was followed by a consistent stream of singles leading up to her debut album, Mood Booster, last year, more evidence of her uncanny ability to blend sounds and genres with ease. And only a year later, we already have the first half of her second album released, with the second half coming in November.

As she hears back just how much music she’s put out in the last four years, she says, “We do work very hard. I feel like all I do is music at the moment, which I'm super grateful about. And it's also become easier as I've got to know my sound and become more comfortable with the recording process and doing stuff at home and things like that. It's easier to do it a bit more quickly than what I've been able to do before.”

2021’s Childish Fear is a stunning debut single, combining drum machines, lush pads and synths, and her fragile and unmistakably Scandinavian vocals. It’s the kind of music the name ‘dream pop’ was invented for.

“It was very scary,” Yndling says of her first venture into music releasing. “Especially because I feel like I've improved a lot in both my singing abilities and also the production as well. I'm still very proud of it. Everything was very raw, and it felt very raw when I released that one. But I was also very lucky, because before it was officially released, I put it on SoundCloud. And this was just after the big wave of SoundCloud, and it died out a bit. But I was lucky enough that I got an email from a very small Italian label about Childish Fear. They really gave me a lot of confidence that first year, and ended up releasing all of my first singles and my first EP.”

Yndling then talks about the music scene in Norway, and it raises an interesting point about her being an introverted person, in a largely introverted part of the world, releasing introverted bedroom pop music, while having to constantly promote her music live and on social media — the latter being a much easier fit for the extroverts of the world.

“I'm a bit of an introvert. To some extent, my music is a bedroom project. I made a decision very early on that I wanted to do bedroom pop, but I wanted it to sound professional. I’ve made a conscious effort to try to do drums and sometimes go to the studio and stuff like that, but it's a very introverted bedroom pop project. So it took a while before I dared to step out into the Oslo scene. I think there is a very good music scene in Norway. We have the main music school here and very talented musicians, a lot of jazz musicians.” 

Also deeply impressive is Yndling’s debut album, Mood Booster. The title track is one of her softer, lo-fi tracks that she crafts so well. A great highlight is how her softly spoken vocals soar over the third track and single Never As Easy, on a bed of dream pop guitar and vintage synth sounds.

When asked how she managed to get the record out after such a constant stream of singles and her self-titled EP, she says, “I actually sat on it for a while. I think that's why it looks like it's going super, super fast. We finished Mood Booster in 2023, and I really wanted to release it in 2023, but then the small Italian label that I was very attached to closed. It was like their passion project during COVID, and then they were burned out from their day jobs. So I had to find a new label, because I didn't feel confident enough to self-release. And I really wanted to release it on vinyl.”

When asked how she managed to get the record out after such a constant stream of singles and her self-titled EP, she says, “I actually sat on it for a while. I think that's why it looks like it's going super, super fast. We finished Mood Booster in 2023, and I really wanted to release it in 2023, but then the small Italian label that I was very attached to closed. It was like their passion project during COVID, and then they were burned out from their day jobs. So I had to find a new label, because I didn't feel confident enough to self-release. And I really wanted to release it on vinyl.”

And the albums just keep coming: Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand) is slated for a November 6th release, a year and a few mere months after the debut LP, coming out on the same date as her debut headline London concert at the Sebright Arms. And, as many artists do in this era of music streaming platforms, we already have the first half of the album in the form of a five-track EP. However, she explains that her reasons for this rollout are more artistic than trying to cater to streaming algorithms and playlists.

“My friends have pointed out that my sound is a little all over the place,” she says self-depracatingly. “Which I don’t mind, and so I thought it would be fun to lean into that with my next album, and divide it into two parts. The first part of the album is called I’m In The Palm Of Your Hand, and that's like the shoegazy part. It’s quieter and has very hidden vocals. Part two, which is coming this fall, is more like trip hop, Massive Attack, and Portishead-inspired. That will be the two parts coming together, and the vinyl will have the two covers on each side.”

The opening salvo of the album we have so far was its first single, It’s Almost Like You’re Here, a track that further shows Yndling’s ability to make music that is so listenable, while exploring many textures and genre hallmarks. Scandi-pop incorporates some of the grittier textures of DIY indie rock and her aforementioned love of trip hop.

If that represents the sound of the album’s first half, then new single Fences appears to be ushering in the sound of the yet-to-be-released second half. It’s more electronic-leaning, with a melancholic intro of a drum machine and lo-fi, detuned synth keys. It’s all fairly dark until the song erupts into the chorus, with the drums and guitar kicking in, and Yndling’s understated verse vocals blooming into singalong melodies.

“The whole album is about how I used to think that I would arrive in life,” she says. “Like I would get to this place in life and then wouldn’t have to keep working on things like my relationships or health. But it's all continuous work to keep your friendships and your family, and everything that's happened in your life is still with you in a way. It’s this feeling that I've been different people in different situations — sometimes you're the one who gets hurt, and sometimes you're the one who hurts someone, even though you don't necessarily do it on purpose. It's kind of like the accident of being a human.

“Fences in particular is about the tunnel vision that you can get when you're not feeling your best. When you're in a period of time where you're feeling really down and you believe everything is bad about your relationships and your life. So you self-isolate and feel alone, but it's kind of your own fault because you're declining invitations and self-isolating.”

The new album will see Yndling touring Europe, particularly focused on her November UK tour with stops in Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, and her album release show at London’s Sebright Arms on November 6th, the day we will finally have the LP released in full.

When asked ‘What does play out loud mean to you?’, Yndling says, “For me, it was such a big step to go out of my bedroom and onto the stage. So to me, playing out loud has been the most scary and also the best thing that I've ever done. I love playing live. That's what I thought about when I heard that phrase.”

With Yndling not only showing the strength of her songwriting abilities, but her willingness to confront her inner monologue that holds so many musicians and artists back, beautiful things could well be in store for her career if she simply keeps doing what she’s doing so diligently. The new single Fences is out now, perfect for kicking back on an introspective day.

Photos by Lene Nordfjord