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“Like their crepuscular, guitar-led music, the dolorous baritone of singer Sivert Hoyem, somehow sneering and swooning simultaneously, suggests long winter nights listening to The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and The Doors. Not to mention Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen to name but a few obvious influences…

…Madrugada's dark, brooding songs are delivered with a narcotic languor that is more likely to evoke downtown Manhattan than the remote fishing villages of Norway's northern archipelago” – Tim Cooper, The Independent

“Madrugada were writing music together while The Strokes were still in private school, and belong to a tight but prolific Scandinavian rock scene that has produced a handful of significant acts in recent years” – Pitchfork

“Sivert Høyem can croon romantically or snarl bitterly, and the band surge like cheetahs or slide like a bassline-bejewelled submarine” – Uncut

“breathtaking stuff….for once the hype was justified” – Music OMH

Madrugada are one of Norway’s most successful ever bands, following a 10-year hiatus they announced a much longed-for reunion early this year via their ‘Industrial Silence 2019’ tour, which currently sees them hitting the roads, back hills and well-trodden tour routes of Scandinavia and the EU.

August 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Industrial Silence’ and in February the band embarked on this 60 date tour - many of which sold out within hours of going on sale prompting extras to be added to cope with demand.

Kicking off with two sold out shows at Oslo’s Spektrum venue (17k cap.) the band headed straight out to Europe and their forthcoming London show at Islington Assembly Hall, 28 October – which also sold out months in advance - is the first chance to see Madrugada play here in 14 years.

The tour heavily features songs from the Industrial Silence album and latter hits which spurred their popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s; songs like “Majesty”, “The Kids Are on High Street” and, especially, “Lift Me” (a duet with Ane Brun) which earned the accolade ‘The song of the Decade’ at Norway’s Alarm Awards.

Equally at home belting out epic guitar-drenched melancholy as they are toying with sparse noir or progressive storytelling, frontman Sivert Høyem’s mesmerizing baritone is reminiscent of a duskier Michael Stipe or Chris Isaak coupled with beseeching lyrics a la Nick Cave with fragments of Cat Stevens’ style fabling.

Backed by the emotive Bass of Frode Jacobsen and heat-seeking drums of Jon Lauvland Pettersen, Madrugada’s songs swallow you into a realm of invigorating self-inflection, although this time around without their original larger-than-life wild-haired guitarist, Robert Burås, who sadly passed away in 2007.

During their ten years as a band, all of Madrugada’s album reached No.1 in Norway plus two No.1 singles. Several albums hit the top 10 and 20 in countries like Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands and they had a No. 1 album in Greece. They received five Spellemann awards (the Norwegian Grammys) including Spellemann of the Year 2005, as well as two Alarm awards, and numerous sales trophies.

Existing in their own strange, velvety world there always was a sense of timelessness with Madrugada and their albums sound as fresh today as they did on arrival. Their extended break has only served to strengthen their resolve and a renewed guile permeates their music and performances, operating with the same intensity and grace which made them so popular.

If Madrugada passed you by in the first instance, now’s the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with one of music’s lesser-known marvels – with fans all over the world already leading the charge as they rush to the band’s live shows.

Get acquainted…