Eivør Pálsdóttir known mononymously as Eivør, is a Faroese singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Syorugota, she had her first televised performance at the age of 13. Over the course of her decades-long career, her musical output has spanned a wide range of genres.In 1999, at the age of 15, she became the lead singer in Clickhaze. The following year, she released her first self-titled album, Eivør Pálsdóttir. In 2001, Clickhaze won the Prix Føroyar song contest. She moved to Reykjavik in 2002 to study music, releasing an album with the music ensemble Yggdrasil the same year.
After her second solo album, Krákan, was released in 2003, she was nominated in three categories at the Icelandic Music Awards, winning Best Singer and Best Performer – normally only won by Icelandic artists. In 2003, she participated in Songvakeppni Sjonvarpsins with the song “Í Nótt”. In 2004, Eivør was named Arsins Føroyingur (Faroe Islander of the Year).
In 2005, the DR Big Band released its 40th anniversary album, with all songs written and sung by Eivør. The same year, she was awarded the Icelandic Gríma award for composing and performing the piece Úlfhamssaga, based on the Norse Sagas. In 2007, Eivør’s 5th album Mannabarn was released. Produced by Donal Lunny, an English-language version was released simultaneously under the name Human Child. The album was recorded throughout 2006 and early 2007 in Dublin, and reached #39 on the Danish Tracklisten. In 2008, Eivør collaborated with English composer Gavin Bryars on Tróndur i Gøtu – based on the chieftain of the same name – duetting with bass singer Rúni Brattaberg. It was performed in Gotugjogy in July 2008.
In 2010, she released the album Larva, marking a stark departure away from her folk sound, moving towards a more experimental and electronic musical style. In 2012 she married the Faroese composer Trondur Bogason; the same year, they collaborated on the album Room, which won three awards at the Faroese Music Awards: Best Female Singer, Best Artist and Best Album of the Year. The following year, she covered “Den vilda” by One More Time in Icelandic, which charted on Tonlist TV.
In 2015, Eivør released two companion albums, Bridges and Slør, sung in English and Faroese respectively. Describing the writing process in an interview with Stacja Islandia, she said that “[it] kept coming to me in such a manner that I would write a lyric in English and straight afterwards a lyric in Faroese would arrive – a kind of mirror image or reflection. Most of the songs were written together in pairs. The albums are therefore two different works yet also a unity. This has been my dream project for over 2 years now.”
In 2016, she collaborated with Bear McCreary on the soundtrack for God of War, performing it with a live orchestra at the E3 2016 Sony Press Conference. She collaborated with the DR Big Band once again that same year, releasing the orchestral album At the Heart of a Selkie. In 2018, she collaborated with John Lunn on the soundtrack to The Last Kingdom. In 2020, she released the album Segl. She became the cover artist first time of OMC Dergi, Turkey’s biggest digital music magazine, to promote her new album Segl.
Describing the about album process in an interview with Alp Kılıç, she said that “I think that every album I make is marked by where I am in my life creatively and also personally, and every album has elements from my previous work entwined with new elements which I amcurious to explore. Slør is very much about home sickness and returning back to my roots. Segl is more about lookingout and navigating though unknown places.”
