Joe Harvey-Whyte and Geir Sundstøl releases the hypnotic "Tana"

LISTEN HERE

"Tana" emerges amorphous and undefined, the opening melodies gradually coalesce into a hypnotic and calming rhythm. A meandering dance between two steel guitars. Call and response between human and nature. Between water and rock. Between land and sea. 

Geir says “Joe and I are both inspired by North Indian classical music. Tana is our take on the raga: It starts out with the alap, a form of improvisation that introduces the melodic framework, and then develops into a raga inspired track. A raga would normally stay in one key, grounded by a drone. Here, we are instead moving between two chords: D and E minor. Both instruments are treated with the vocoder, usually associated with electronic music, creating an unusual soundscape, all grounded by Dalen’s and Engen’s delicate drumming.”

The album will be released digitally and on vinyl via HUBRO Records on 30th January. 

More on the album: 

On Langeleik, two pioneers of alternative pedal steel meet across oceans, time and temperament. Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Geir Sundstøl and London-based pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte combine the instrument’s ethereal resonance with field recordings, ambient drones and vintage synths to create music that feels as fluid and alive as the natural world itself. 

“The idea was to make a record that sounds more like nature,” says Sundstøl. “We slowed down the tempo and let the instruments mirror the wind and the river flowing by.”

The songs were born over an intense week in Studio Intim in Oslo, where the two musicians followed instinct rather than plan. The result is a soundscape moving freely between ambient, folk and experimental Americana — grounded in patience, texture and organic interplay.

Geir Sundstøl(born in 1969) is a Norwegian musician who plays a wide range of string instruments, including the marxophone, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, bouzouki, lap steel, banjo, and dobro, as well as harmonica and various keyboards. He is a highly sought-after and respected session musician and was awarded the Gammleng Prize in the studio category in 1994. In 2015, he released his first album under his own name, Furulund, which was nominated for the Spellemann Prize in the open category. He later won the Spellemann Prize in 2018 for his third album, Brødløs.

Joe Harvey-Whyte is a London-based pedal-steel player, composer and producer who has toured and recorded with Susanne Sundfør, Liam Gallagher, Billy Bragg and The Hanging Stars, as well as releasing his own albums Flatland/Spaceland (2021), Last Ride (with Bobby Lee) and In a Fugue State (with Paul Cousins).