Anja Lauvdal

Anja Lauvdal, a Norwegian pianist, keyboardist, and composer, pursues projects across avant-garde jazz, free improvisation groups, and indie pop bands. A graduate of the Trondheim Conservatory of Music, she belongs to the atmospheric soul-pop band Broen and the contemporary jazz outfit Moskus, in addition to Skrap, whose work spans many styles. She has contributed to releases by Jenny Hval, Susanna, and Sondre Lerche, while also issuing improvised recordings with Tony Buck of the Necks, Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck of Fire! Orchestra, Ståle Liavik Solberg, and further partners. Her solo debut arrived in 2022 with From a Story Now Lost, an experimental ambient album produced by Laurel Halo.

Lauvdal studied jazz at the Trondheim Conservatory of Music throughout the 2000s. With fellow students double bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and drummer Hans Hulbækmo she co-founded the acoustic jazz trio Moskus, and the three also performed together in the larger ensemble Skadedyr. Additional affiliations included the indie rock acts Your Headlights Are On and the shoegaze-influenced Snøskred. Skrap, her duo with Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck, issued its noisy debut K.O. in 2013. The more accessible Broen, featuring both musicians, released its first album Yoga in 2015 and later signed with Bella Union. Outside her group work, Lauvdal appeared on Susanna’s 2016 album Triangle, two full-lengths by Jenny Hval, and Sondre Lerche’s Patience in 2020.

In 2020 she joined the Necks’ Tony Buck and Norwegian percussionist Ståle Liavik Solberg for the improvised LP Gemstones and teamed with Mobeck on The Big Bounce. With former Skadedyr member Joakim Heibø she released All My Cloths on Smalltown Supersound in 2022. The same label issued From a Story Now Lost, her more electronic solo effort produced by Laurel Halo.