Rebekka Bakken

Rebekka Bakken is one of Europe’s most distinctive singer-songwriters – an artist whose voice spans three octaves and whose music blends Nordic melancholy with luminous warmth. Critics have called her voice a “force of nature,” yet she resists every label: jazz, folk, pop – she moves freely between them. “Once there are words,” she says, “it’s all about the story. We singers are just the messengers.” Born in Lier near Oslo, Rebekka grew up with Norwegian folk songs, church hymns, and the sound of her mother’s voice. After studying philosophy, she moved to New York City in the mid-1990s, where she began shaping her own sound – poetic, emotional, and unmistakably her own. Since her debut The Art of How to Fall (2003), Rebekka Bakken has released a series of acclaimed albums that have earned her Gold Records, Amadeus Austrian Music Awards, and the German Jazz Award. Her 2018 album Things You Leave Behind reached the German Top 100, and Always On My Mind (2023) topped the German Jazz Charts. With her new album Nord (2025), she returns to her roots. Sung mostly in Norwegian, the record draws on traditional melodies, spiritual songs, and her own compositions. “Every note, every breath, all of me is in this album,” she says. Nord is both a homecoming and a statement – an exploration of belonging that reaches far beyond borders. Rebekka Bakken’s art reminds us that honesty can be beauty, and that sometimes, to move forward, you must turn north.