Joe Harvey-Whyte and Geir Sundstøl, Two Pedal Steel Innovators Unite on the New Album Langeleik

LISTEN TO THE NEW ALBUM HERE

Geir and Joe got in touch in 2016 when Joe, exploring beyond his usual listening habits, stumbled upon Geir’s debut Furulund. Struck by its hypnotic slide melodies, he reached out. A musical friendship grew through years of conversation, sharing curiosities and visiting each other’s studios in Oslo and London.

In August 2024, during a break from touring with Susanne Sundfør, Joe travelled to Oslo. What began as “five days to do something with two pedal-steel guitars” at Studio Intim became a full-length record. “We decided almost nothing in advance,” says Joe. “We just started playing.”

For Geir, who usually spends eighteen months on an album, this fast and intuitive process was a revelation. “Joe works spontaneously. I usually tinker with tiny detail for days. The two different work forms are equally good, I guess. You gain some, and you loose some by spending months on a song.”

Most of the music was written in the studio, born out of improvisation and mutual listening. “I think when you play with a musician who is as good a listener as Geir then magical things can happen. It’s that kind of listening which makes you so deeply present in what is happening in the moment that you can unlock the mysteries of the music which is coming out of you”  says Joe.

The pair used Geir’s treasure-trove of instruments: Moog synthesizers, vintage amps, drum machines, an antique Optigan organ — and countless left-handed guitars. Their dialogue flowed freely, alternating between cinematic drones, fragile folk motifs and subtle rhythmic pulses.

Many of the compositions are named after rivers, places where sound and movement merge. Joe’s travels in Lofoten and along East London’s Lea River informed the record’s atmosphere. “When I listen to the album I hear the ocean and rivers,” he says. 

“I have a deep love of Norway. From hitchhiking from London to Tromsø in search of the Northern Lights when I was 18, to touring the length of the country with Susanne Sundfør, adventuring in Lofoten and now making this record in Oslo with Geir. I have spent a lot of time getting to know the country and forging emotional connections with the people and the landscape.   Sonically this record is less typically “ambient” or “americana” than other records in my recent catalogue.

It feels Norwegian to me.”

The track “rørvikelva” stands out to them both. Joe had a melody that he played on the optigan (an optical keyboard), and Geir added a steel guitar intro when they felt the song needed something more.Geir then remembered he had an unused track by the poet Ivar Orvedal, that would fit perfectly to their song. “The words are about things can be art even if it’s not discovered, and that books are a great hiding place for things that doesn’t want to be found. I think.” Says Geir. “Ivar’s spoken word piece on Rørvikelva is a deeply moving piece for me.” Says Joe “His intonation and words feel appropriate for the cutting room floor reality of how this piece came to be. Suddenly this piece which was ready for the trash came back to life.”  

From the sound of dark alleyways and urban meanders to blissfully serene waters and oceanic drones; throughout the album there remains a unity in its sense of movement. “It encourages the same deep listening which was necessary for its creation,” Joe says. “This is not an album of instant gratification - it’s an album to do nothing with. A companion for reverie.”

Featuring guest appearances by Erland Dahlen, Jo Berger Myhre, Anders Engen, and poet Ivar Orvedal, Langeleik captures the rare chemistry between two musicians who has created an album that sounds more like nature: we slow down the tempo and let the instruments mirror the wind and the river flowing by. 

The album is released on CD, Vinyl and digitally today.

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).