Bergen's own Spelleman prize winning electronic music master Niilas turns to face the sea in a new commission to be performed for swimmers at the Nordnes Sjøbad. 

Niilas arrived in the national spotlight during the pandemic as the bright star of Norwegian club music with his self released album of bass heavy electronics, Also This Will Change. At the same time he moved house in to De Sjøfarendes Aldershjem, a former seafarers' boarding house on the tip of the Nordnes peninsula, where he began exploring freer and more long form compositions. Commissioned by Borealis, this new piece draws on the lively sounds of his elderly neighbours, field recordings from the dilapidated instruments of the house common room, ambient electronic music and his own passion for swimming in the icy fjord to connect ideas of flow, floating, sea and ocean with the history of his new surroundings. 

Established in the 16th century as a poor house for sailors, De Sjøfarendes Aldershjem sits a stones throw from the 110 year old public seabath on a peninsula of the city centre jutting out in to the fjord. Growing up in Bergen as well as being part of the indigenous Sea sámi community from Kåfjord in the north of Norway, Niilas’s connections to the ocean and nature are multiple. Here he presents a new musical meditation on the ocean, to be experienced in the water. Jump in!