Copenhagen-based, composer, songwriter & producer Fie Eike recently unveiled her debut album, Water. The 12-track release offers a comprehensive look into the magical qualities of water, with the artist exploring its healing and transformative abilities. Surrounded by the stunning Scandinavian landscape, Eike has cultivated a deep connection to nature, which has fueled her spiritual bond with the natural world and inspired the album.
Variance spoke with Fie Eike about the new album, covering its initial conception, how it has transformed her as an artist and how she feels to finally have released the album, after nearly four years in the making.
Water is such a unique and profound theme for an album. Can you tell us more about how the idea of water, as both a physical and symbolic element, shaped the sound and concept of your debut album?
Making the album started in the winter months of 2020 (during lockdown), when I spent some time on the North West Coast of Denmark by The North Sea. Nature there is very raw and sparse during the winter months. I started going for walks several times a day and found myself starting to study and document the movements of the ocean and the beautiful traces and lines the waves make in the sand - shaping the coastline over time. I documented these movements through photography, video and later sound recordings. When following these lines and traces that the waves made with the wind, I felt a deep presence and a merging with nature and the vast open landscapes as melodies and songs started to emerge. As I listened and observed, I also started recognising human nature in my interactions with nature. I suddenly felt like I was part of my surroundings and not separate from them, and it felt like space and time completely dissolved. A strong sense of connectedness, humility and gratitude emerged. Somehow the album started to grow out of these practices that started as a subconscious pull towards the water and ocean and a deep curiosity about the wisdom it holds.
It wasn’t until about a year later that I realised it was turning into an album about water when I realised I had more than 1000 photos and videos of water on my phone. But looking back on it I see how these practices of studying the movement of water and being so drawn to water profoundly impacted and helped shape the soundscape, melodies and storytelling of the album not just the soundscape and occasional water sounds on the album but also the way the melodies and compositions are shaped.
Later in the process I also started reading and learning more about water through other perspectives such as science and philosophy. This added additional depth to my own experience of water and the ocean as something that holds profound existential wisdom about human nature as part of nature and about healing, transformation, emotional wellbeing and about assuming form. These are also some of the themes explored in the album lyrics.
You’ve described water as both powerful and fragile, destructive yet healing. How do you believe these contradictions in water reflect human emotion and the personal journey of healing and transformation?
For me, these great contrasts are a beautiful example of how water mirrors life and holds profound emotional wisdom in the sense that these contrasts are a natural part of life and our emotions and human nature since we are also part of nature.
The ocean is such a powerful symbol of our subconscious, and shows us that we cannot only insist on living on the surface nor in the depths alone. We must be able to hold both darkness and light, and dare to really feel and inhabit our full range of emotions - both the positive and the more difficult ones. When we try to avoid our difficult emotions and unconscious fears, they have a way of creeping through the surface and affecting our lives in an even bigger way. For me the water teaches me not to be afraid of these depths and darkness. Because they are fundamental to the light. When we expand our capacity for darkness, we also expand our capacity for light, love and joy. In the end, there is no light without darkness, and no love without fear.
At the same time water reminds us of the cyclical nature of life and our connectedness and dependency on nature and each other. The waves are like a breath constantly shaping and changing its surroundings and the coastline, while instilling balance, peace and anchoring us in the present moment.
The album’s themes of fluidity and transformation are tied to water’s ability to shape and change its surroundings. Do you see this album as a reflection of your own artistic evolution over the past few years?
Working on this album has definitely transformed my way of working with writing, composition and production. I learned to produce and mix while making this album, and that has allowed me to start writing and composing in completely new ways. Whereas before I would always start with a melody, and then add chords on the piano. But gaining more knowledge and experimenting with sound, recording and arrangement has allowed more creativity in the writing process. For example by having some of the songs develop from a sound or a few chords or based around a production idea. I think in this way, learning new skills adds tremendous freedom and endless opportunities, which can be hugely transformational in the creative process.
You wrote, produced, and mixed Water entirely by yourself. Can you share what that creative process was like for you?
The process of writing and producing the album was unlike anything I have ever tried before. In many ways it was really fun, rewarding and an incredible learning experience, teaching me to trust my instincts, with the many decisions that go into making an album. At the same time it was also incredibly demanding, challenging and lonely at times, and there were times when I wasn’t sure I could complete it. But even that taught me a lot. About persistence, and giving things time to breathe, and that often leaving something for a while will let time work for you so you can come back to it with a fresh perspective. I really enjoy being immersed in creative work that I am deeply interested in, and I actually really enjoy working alone. I am also a quite disciplined person, which I think has helped me a lot in this process.
A few people were very important in the later stages of the process and provided valuable feedback and inputs once the songs had started to take shape. Especially my husband and my close friend Kristina Sparsø were both a huge support in the process.
I also worked with an incredible mastering engineer, Martin Englert, who did a beautiful job mastering the whole album and also provided invaluable feedback on the mixes allowing me to make mistakes and improve my skills.
In Water, you explore the deep emotional terrain of fear, grief, and vulnerability, alongside hope and transformation. After spending nearly four years working on Water, what is the main message or emotion you hope listeners take with them after listening to the album?
That is so hard to say. I hope this album can offer the listeners something of value.
I hope that maybe it can somehow offer a small space of freedom, to connect truly and unapologetically to emotions and nature (both nature externally and within). And that it can somehow contribute to a connectedness and a feeling of being ok and at peace with what we are. That it is ok to be sad, angry, vulnerable and grieving and that it is also ok to feel hopeful, happy, loved and full of wonder - sometimes all at the same time. And that knowing that the more we dare to be truthful with who we are, and feel the full range of emotions, the more we are also able to serve others and the world around us with love and kindness.
If you had to listen to one track from the album on repeat for an entire day, which one would it be and how do you think it would make you feel by the end of the day?
For me it would probably be ‘The Nile’. 'The Nile’ encapsulates the feeling of entering into a dark forest on your own or plunging into cold dark waters where you cannot see what hides beneath the surface. ‘The Nile’ invites the listener on a journey to overcome fears and explore darkness with presence, curiosity and eyes wide open, whilst also encouraging us to understand that darkness is not only something to fear but something that holds great potential for presence, reflection, light and wonder.
The track has a slow repetitive rhythm and a contrasting soundscape with both darkness, light, mystery and an ironic undertone. I am not sure how you’d feel after listening for a whole day, but I would definitely encourage ending the day listening in complete darkness as it really expands the experience.
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