Vallivan - Floating Sofa Quartet feat. Dreamers´ Circus

The Inter-Nordic folk music band Floating Sofa Quartet joins forces with one of the leading names of Danish folk scene, Dreamers’ Circus, for an exciting single release.

For a decade Floating Sofa Quartet, a musical co-operation between four young folk musicians from Denmark, Finland and Sweden, has been working across borders with their own take on Nordic folk music. They’ve been shedding light on the shared cultural heritage of the Nordic countries and creating music that is both preserving and renewing their tradition(s). On this anniversary single, Vallivan, they combine their wooden and warm sound seamlessly with the Danish folk trio Dreamer’s Circus.
Vallivan is the first single release from Floating Sofa Quartet’s upcoming 10-years anniversary album Tides.

The two Nordic Folk bands shared a creative day together with sound engineer and producer Louise Nipper in Copenhagen in the fall of 2024. The single track Vallivan is a great example of an “effective” melody, with very few notes put together to maximize the outcome!

The traditional ballad Vallivan can be found in several different versions all over the Nordic countries, however this particular “dance-version” was constructed by Danish folk music legend Leif Varmark based on traditional sources. Mads Kjøller Henningsen of FSQ learned the tune directly from Leif at a ballad course many years ago, and introduced the melody to Dreamers’ Circus when guesting the band on their Christmas tour. As FSQ and Dreamers’ Circus share a deep love for traditional music they decided to record an interpretation of this great melody together.

The intro is sung by the voice of teacher Just Poulsen (recorded in Copenhagen in 1933). The traditional melody is arranged by Floating Sofa Quartet and Dreamers’ Circus together. The single was recorded, mixed and mastered by Louise Nipper at Soundscape Studios I Copenhagen and released by Danish record label GO Danish Folk Music.

Floating Sofa Quartet:
Mads Kjøller Henningsen (DK) - simple system wooden flute, shawm & hurdy-gurdy
Leija Lautamaja (FI) - diatonic accordion
Clara Tesch (DK) - fiddle
Malte Zeberg (SE) - double bass

Dreamers’ Circus:
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (DK) - fiddle
Ale Carr (SE) - nordic cittern
Nikolaj Busk (DK) - grand piano

www.floatingsofaquartet.com

www.dreamerscircus.com

Cover artwork: Julia Stenberg

https://juliastenberg.com/