Whatever happened to the teenage dream?

Following on from 2021’s acclaimed Aphelion, Leprous frontman Einar Solberg has dipped a toe into solo waters on his debut, 16. The accidental concept album finds him flexing his collaborative muscles with some familiar names as he revisits the life-changing events of his formative years that eventually led to him becoming a musician.

- Dom Lawson

Sometimes, the truth can seem a little mundane. Beloved of all sensible prog-leaning folk, Einar Solberg is embarking on a solo career, largely to save himself from getting bored. After 22 years as frontman with Leprous, he’s finally made a record under his own name. Entitled 16 and focused on events in his life between the ages of 16 and 19, it comprises songs co-written with a diverse array of musicians and composers, with a few self-penned songs thrown in for good measure. It’s a spectacular beginning to his solo endeavours, but one that grew from a simple urge to find something to do.

“I remember when I got home from a tour in 2018 – and it’d been a year with very extensive touring – I got back to Norway, looked at my schedule and thought, ‘Oh, there’s absolutely nothing there!’” Solberg recalls. “I got a bit depressed about it! It keeps on happening here and there. Leprous are a very active band, but suddenly you get into periods when there’s nothing, so what could I fill those with?”

Solo careers are far from an unusual phenomenon in the world of progressive music, and Solberg could easily have churned out a few tunes and left it at that. But as he notes, he was incredibly conscious that he didn’t want to write anything that sounded in any way close to Leprous. Instead, he joined forces with other songwriters and composers, exchanging ideas and striving to create something unique.