Nordic Daughter: “Fly Away” – musical art in its purest, most sincere form
In a recent exclusive interview, Melissa Lycan of Nordic Daughter explained that she had always identified with the project’s name as she is a woman of primarily Northern European descent. She had been using the name for the last 12 years, even before she, and her husband, Jason Lycan, set about seriously writing songs together and launching Nordic Daughter as a formal music project. Now having already written two albums worth of music so far and looking forward to more inspired stories as they record the songs and tour the world, Nordic Daughter have released their debut single, entitled “Fly Away”.
Nordic Daughter’s highly anticipated debut EP, “Voices of our Past”, is set to release soon, while their single, “Fly Away” arrives just in time to capitalize on the season that fits its moods most accurately – spring. The gentle plucks of the acoustic guitar paired with the breathy, soulful voice of Melissa Lycan encapsulate the season with a stunning precision as they swing between a simplistic folk facet and an underlying soulful alt-rock presence. It’s this tip-toeing between genres that allows Nordic Daughter to bathe in their myriad of techniques in order to convey what they do best – and that is writing music.
Their songwriting has depth rarely encountered these days. The lyrics are so poetical, evoking scenes which vary from one person’s mind to another, as life’s experiences dictate, while the music perfectly complements with a depth of poetry all its own. The music is as easy as it is hard to classify. It crosses over styles, creating a place all its own. The singing with its barely restrained emotion touches a person deeply.
You know that you are hearing something very special when listening to this wonderful combination of music and lyric writing, brought to life with the soaring, gentle, and loving vocals. Melissa Lycan and Jason Lycan have happily come together to make what I believe to be a perfectly honest song, in every sense. From the composition and execution to the production, the song comes across as musical art in its purest, most sincere form.
Few better debut performances from independents artists can be found anywhere, in any time period, in any musical genre. I have been around long enough and have performed and listened to an ocean of music in my lifetime. And I draw on this experience to highly recommend “Fly Away” to you. This is music which has many elements of greatness, in its apparent simplicity, but more importantly it is wonderfully listenable. It grows even more so, as you continue to explore its depth.
In the liner notes, Melissa explains that she wanted to tell two stories with this song: “One is of a young woman growing up and finding her strength to not give in to the darker more negative emotions of the fear and anger she is learning to accept and be free. The other, is one of psychology, anger, perpetuating the negatives in life showing the dark side of people’s responses.”
“Fly Away” is a song that can begin to describe what Nordic Daughter has to offer to the world of modern folk music. It sways and swells with the group’s vocals, chord progressions and lyrics, and manages to remain absorbing all the way through. Not only will Nordic Daughter be showered in praise, but also they’re a project that deserves that praise. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real payoff of “Fly Away”.
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