Lullabies in a Car Crash, Bjorn Riis's 2014 solo debut
We talked about Bjorn Riis regarding the release of his latest album, one of the finest released in 2025, the beautiful Fimbulvinter.
To summarize, he's a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who went from a little-known cover band to global success as a member of Airbag and as a solo artist.
He's the main songwriter for Airbag, a Norwegian band from Oslo, and for nearly twenty years has shared the stage with bands and artists of the caliber of Marillion, Yes, Saga, Neil Morse, and Riverside.
This is a beautiful debut, a double LP consisting of six tracks, three of which are between 10 and 13 minutes long.
All excellent compositions with a sound that draws influences and atmospheres from Pink Floyd and Steven Wilson, with a guitar-centric focus determined by Riis's own great talent.
- A New Day is a beautiful instrumental intro to the album with a haunting guitar loop and an ever-increasing synth base; this four-minute-plus intro is very ambient.
- Stay Calm begins with a beautiful acoustic guitar arpeggio and Riis's beautiful vocals, with the keyboards opening the song with a ballad-style rhythmic foundation, laying down a beautiful carpet of sounds. Nice deep bass and a beautiful, harder rock midsection. Riis takes center stage with his solo, with his very long sounds. A very moving song.
- "Disappear" features rhythm guitar and piano with a very soft tempo over electric guitar notes.
- "Out of Reach" begins with just electric and acoustic guitar, and only later does a very light keyboard base join in, followed by drums with increasing emphasis. It's a very psychedelic piece.
- "The Chase" is a beautiful rock piece, guitar-centric with more energetic sections and very ambient keyboard sections, and long guitar sounds in the background. Beautiful composition.
- "Lullabies in a Car Crash," the title track, is also the album's best track. It has a very psychedelic sound and beautiful composition, a fantastic and truly engaging piece.
This album was a great start. The album's atmospheres don't differ from song to song, but are played with different emphasis.
The guitar solos are fantastic. An album of great emotional depth, superb guitar work, and sophisticated arrangements that evoke a wide range of emotions, from sadness and darkness to euphoria and hope, while maintaining a sense of peace and beauty.
Recommended for lovers of the typical sound of Pink Floyd, Airbag, Steven Wilson, and prog in general. Beautiful!
The Tracks
1. A New Day (4:16)
2. Stay Calm (10:09)
3. Disappear (6:27)
4. Out of Reach (10:01)
5. The Chase (7:08)
6. Lullabies in a Car Crash (13:26)
Running Time: 51:27
Line-Up
- Bjørn Riis - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, producer
Featuring:
- Vegard Kleftås Sleipnes - keyboards (1), percussion (2,3), engineer
- Asle Tostrup - loops and effects (2,3)
- Henrik Fossum - drums
