LYRICIST OF THE YEAR // STEIN TORLEIF BJELLA // Home to Die

The jury's reasoning: With the release "Heim for å døy", Stein Torleif Bjella has solidified his position as a prominent songwriter. With his clear expression and bittersweet lyric universe, he has largely created his own genre. Bjella's simple and minor-keyed melodies carry the lyrics forward. The soundscape of seasick, gliding string instruments emphasizes what he himself calls […]

  / 27/10/2014 /
Stein Torleif Bjella is the winner of the Edvard Prize's "Lyricist of the Year" category for the album "Heim for å døy". In line with the album's theme, the award was presented "home" in Ål on October 22nd, by fellow villager Arne Moslåtten, who writes lyrics for Hellbillies. He also won the same award in 2008.
Stein Torleif Bjella with award presenter Arne Moslåtten, lyricist for Hellbillies and himself a former Edvard Prize winner for lyrics (2008).
The jury's reasoning:

With the release "Heim for å døy", Stein Torleif Bjella has solidified his position as a prominent songwriter. With his clear expression and bittersweet text universe, he has largely created his own genre. Bjella's simple and minor-keyed melodies carry the lyrics forward. The soundscape of seasick, gliding string instruments emphasizes what he himself calls "sailing on the sea of ​​love".

It's about monotony, slaving away at one's own thing, about ruined plans and unused lives. With this album, Bjella describes an entire rural community, and he does so in a close and believable way. We recognize the characters; a neighbor, a bachelor or a junkyard man. We can still, with a little goodwill, detect an extremely cautious optimism in the songs, especially when "another feathered girl" appears.

Bjella is more than a lyricist and songwriter. He is a poet. If the goal of art is to say something important about being human today, Stein Torleif Bjella is someone who manages to do just that. For this effort, he receives the Edvard Prize 2014.