Moddi

Pal Moddi Knutsen performs under the stage name Moddi as a progressive folk musician based in Norway. His work draws equally from idiosyncratic freak-folk and urgent political protest, and his debut album Floriography appeared in 2010, earning reviews strong enough to attract notice in the U.K. Steady activity over the following years helped him develop a cult following that reached its peak with the 2016 album Unsongs, which gathered 12 songs banned in 12 separate countries.

Knutsen entered the world on February 18, 1987, in Senja, Norway, and began performing music during childhood, including a sea shanty broadcast on a local radio station at age five. At 18 he took Moddi as his professional name and committed to a full-time music career, issuing the self-released EP Random Skywriting that later gained nationwide exposure through Norwegian radio. His first full-length album, Floriography, reached stores in February 2010 and entered the Norwegian Top 10. Three years afterward came his second album, Set the House on Fire, followed only months later by Kæm Va Du?, recorded entirely in Norwegian and honored with the Norwegian Spellemannprisen Award for Folk Album of the Year.

Moddi has consistently addressed political and environmental concerns throughout his work, serving as a member of Young Friends of the Earth and the Socialist Youth while also canceling concerts in Israel to protest settlement expansion in the West Bank. These efforts led directly to the 2016 release of Unsongs, an album built from songs banned across the globe.