2024 was the year that I discovered Pagan Nordic Dark Folksinger/songwriter Kati Rán. Her album SALA was one of my top albums of 2024 and her music elevated me and took me places with every listen and still continues to do so. This year, 2025, marks the 10th anniversary of Kati Rán‘s solo debut LYS and Svart Records is re-releasing LYS in its very first vinyl format for listeners and collectors of the Nordic & Dark Folk music genre, along with a digipak CD format. All editions include updated artwork, a booklet with original lyrics and English translations, and the bonus track “Vinda Acoustic.”
In 2015, LYS was recorded, produced, and released by Kati Rán and producer Christopher Juul (Heilung) at the renowned LAVA Studios in Denmark. Together, they shaped, recorded, and performed all the tracks, bringing Kati Rán’s inner world, voice, and historical instrumentation to life. LYS contains ten original tracks performed in Norwegian, English, German, and Old Norse, including the hit song “Suurin,” featuring Kai Uwe Faust and Maria Franz of the Danish act HEILUNG.
Kati Rán originally released LYS in 2015 as a solo artist after her folk band L.E.A.F dissolved over artistic differences. During this transition to a solo career, Christopher Juul provided his immersive audio production expertise, which continues to shape the Nordic folk genre today through various projects and bands. The magic of their collaboration is evident in the LYS album, as well as in Kati Rán’s singles “Blodbylgje” and “Unnr Mindbeach,” which were featured on her latest album, SÁLA, in 2024. Since its original release, LYS has sold out all physical editions, garnered over 10 million streams across music platforms, and is widely considered a genre-defining record in Nordic Dark Folk.
LYS impresses not only with its sound but also through its collaborations with various artists and bands. These include Oliver S. Tyr of the German pagan folk act Faun, Kai Uwe Faust’s signature throat vocalizations on “Suurin,” a duet with Maria Franz (Heilung, Euzen) on “Vinda,” soothing harmonizing vocals by drummer Kristian Uhre (Euzen) on “Sol,” and instrumental contributions from Kati Rán’s former bandmates in L.E.A.F. The album also features Rán’s first duet recordings with HEILUNG’s Kai Uwe Faust on the opening track “Flamme.”
LYS was originally crowdfunded by listeners and supporters of Kati Rán’s dark pagan folk band L.E.A.F and her solo musical journey. Several international artists contributed campaign support videos, helping to make her first album an international success.
Pre-order
Kati Rán‘s LYS album
HERE.
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