TALK TO ME LIKE HUMANS DO

On the follow-up to 2020's more traditional Folkesange, Myrkur's Amalie Bruun has created an experimental album of contrasts that takes the listener on a journey through motherhood and bereavement. Bruun tells Prog about the healing power of Spine and the life changes that inspired it.

- Cheri Faulkner

The journey into motherhood can be a tumultuous one. Combine that with losing someone close and you might find a strong need to redefine yourself in a brand-new era of your life. Just ask Myrkur, real name Amalie Bruun, who is returning with her fourth studio album, Spine.

“I had a child [since the release of Folkesange] which is about as big a change as it can be,” she says. “I had to find myself in that new life and that new role, and I went through a long period of not even wanting to play any music.”

Bruun speaks of the adjustment to motherhood that saw her struggling to connect with her music – she didn’t write anything new for over a year. “I went through a lot of changes and growth,” she explains. “That led me to feel inspired to write Spine and that became a healing process for me.”

Prog speaks with Bruun openly and frankly about the difficulties of becoming a mother, of intertwining your life before with your new life, and maintaining your self-identity – to which she nods knowingly. “Someone told me that if your life before becoming a mother had very little to do with the concept of being a mother or attending to somebody else, then it can be even harder,” she explains. “I’ve just always been kind of a loner, you know?”

She elaborates further and explains that before having her child, she would only really worry about her music. “That’s why it was an even bigger change, creating a life and then being entirely responsible, and all I can think about is this new baby. That was a really tough change for me to find my ground to stand on after that.”