original music

In 2012, Michele Solberg’s fascination with tarot inspired her to create an album of eleven songs that trace the Fool’s Journey, a key narrative in tarot. The album begins with Harvest Time, which references both the Fool card and the rebirth of Dionysus, portrayed as the Fool in Aleister Crowley’s tarot deck. Each track is shaped by the imagery and symbolism of Crowley’s deck, either directly or thematically.

For instance, in Dust of the Moon, Solberg evokes a specific visual from the Crowley deck, singing, “the sun’s in the beetle’s pincers, moving through the night.” Other songs, like Dogs Are on the Loose, explore themes of unrealized potential or the implications of a reversed card. Between the Threads offers a broader nod to the entire tarot system with the line, “there are 78 cries in a mockingbird’s song.”

The album came to life through a collaborative recording process with Rob Halverson at Tree World Recording, blending Solberg’s artistic vision with Halverson’s production expertise.

In 1999, Michele Solberg spent a year and a half on the small Danish island of Samsø, accompanied by music producer and engineer Mike Stewart. During her time there, she wrote and recorded the songs for her album Beyond the Blue in the attic of an old farmhouse. The album weaves in sounds from the island itself, capturing its distinctive atmosphere. It opens with the chime of Danish church bells from a church dating back to the 1400s and features contributions from Danish musicians Søren Jacobsen and Anders Haarh. Additionally, Michele’s friend Malene Eggers provides Danish-language intros to several tracks, enhancing the album’s unique character.