Start Listening To: Yndling

Norwegian dream pop artist Yndling talks shoegaze, trip hop, and the shifting shapes of self on her upcoming two-part album.

Across her shimmering, slow-burning dream pop, Yndling is the project of Oslo-based musician Silje. She blends shoegaze haze, trip hop textures, and a quiet intensity that lingers long after the last chord. With a sound rooted in the influence of Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins and Portishead, she has found her own space between nostalgia and experimentation. This November she will release Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand) in two parts, each exploring a different side of her sonic world: one steeped in gauzy, guitar-led shoegaze, the other leaning into the moodier pull of trip hop. We caught up with her to talk about writing through vulnerability, finding inspiration in films and coastlines, and how playing live has shaped the new record.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Sure! So my name is Silje, and I have a dream pop project called Yndling. Yndling is Norwegian and means «favorite», or more so like «dearest favorite», I dont think there’s an exact word for it in English. I’m from Norway and me and the band are all based in Oslo. I make a sort of shoegazey trip hoppy dream pop, heavily inspired by bands from the 90s such as Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, Portishead and Massive Attack, as well are more newer ones like Beach House, Tame Impala and The Marias. In november I’m releasing my second album «Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand)», which is being released in two parts to really get to focus on those two aspects of Yndling’s sound: Part 1 with a heavy shoegaze influence, whilst part 2 is leaning into my trip hop influences a bit more. 

Let’s start with ‘Fences.’ What was the starting point for the track, either lyrically or sonically?

I actually do both at the same time, sound and lyrics are very much intertwined for me. I made the verses first, and the starting point was the synth melody or like chord play on the verses. We’ve kept the original synth from my demo, as well as the vocals; I recorded them both simultaneously and the words kind of just came with the melody. 

You’ve described ‘Fences’ as a song about how the mind can work against you. Was it cathartic to write something so introspective, or did it take time to feel comfortable sharing it?

I mean sharing music will always feel scary and make me feel a bit vulnerable, however I’ve come to realize that when I’m being super personal is also when people relate the most to my lyrics and my music. As it turns out the human experience and emotions are universal and realizing that makes it a bit easier to share, knowing other peopler do feel the same as I do. 

The contrast between the claustrophobic verses and more expansive choruses is really effective. How do you approach building emotional tension in your music?

Thank you! It’s honestly not something I do very intentionally, but with this song we (as in me and my co-producer Adrian Einestor Sandberg) knew we wanted that contrast between the electronic drums on the verses and the organic ones on the chorus. I think that did a lot with that sense of release, you know? And lyrically the chorus is kind of like a «I got my head above water; It all makes sense now» sort of realization, so we wanted to open it up sound-wise too. 

Your upcoming album is being released in two parts: one more classic shoegaze, one more experimental. What led you to structure it that way?

I’ve always been drawn in two directions kind of with my sound, and I made the first two songs for this album - «It’s Almost Like You’re Here» and the title track «Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand)», that last one isn’t out just yet, but will be in October - I wrote those songs within like the same week, and although they sound so different I really felt like they were part of the same story and the same album. And with that the idea grew to kind of keep playing on that, to really get to explore those two different aspects of my sound, doing a part 1 shoegaze album and a part 2 trip hop-influenced one. It’s been a lot of fun to do it like this and ironically I feel like it’s given me and Adrian (my co-producer and lead guitarist in my live band) more freedom to fully immerse ourself in those different sounds. 

There’s a real shift toward darker and more textured sounds across your newer work. Has that been a conscious move, or more of a natural evolution?

Thank you! I think more of a natural evolution - it came from me realizing what I preferred playing live, I love playing the darker tracks, and also the more I’ve released the more free I’ve felt to keep experimenting and going more into the darker tracks. On my album from last year, «Mood Booster», my personal favorite song is one called «After Ten» so the sound have always been there, I just wanted to kind of dive all in with this new music. 

You’ve mentioned the theme of time as central to the album. What drew you to explore that?

The album is about all the different people we are at different times and with different people, if that makes sense. I think I used to believe that I’d like find myself and «arrive» in life someday, and that I didn’t have to keep working to stay there - like keep working on your relationships, your friendships, your mental health and happiness - so it’s an album kind of about realizing how many versions of oneself you have to keep within yourself and that you can’t really escape them, everything just kind of adds on making you who you are, even the parts of yourself you don’t like too much. It’s about how I used to think time would wash everything away, and kind of realizing that you have to take yourself wherever you go if that makes sense. 

Do you think writing music during long Norwegian winters shapes the atmosphere of your songs?

Hahah oh i dont know, we do spend a lot of time at home though, that’s for sure. So just the time spent inside and kind of the introspective culture that makes does probably affect my writing. 

You’ve toured extensively this year, including slots at SXSW and Eurosonic. Has performing live changed how you think about your songs or how you write?

We have, and it’s been so so good! I think so actually, like I mentioned I’ve come to realize that the «big» songs with loud guitars are the funnest ones to play live, and it’s probably affected my writing in that sense. It’s also just been so fun to finally get like a proper amount of shows under our belts as a band, we’ve improved so much and it’s made performing feels fun and given us a lot of confidence going into our album tour in November. 

Your music draws comparisons to artists like Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins and Portishead. Are there any non-musical influences that shape your sound too?

Ohh that’s a great question. Maybe nature? I like spending time in nature, like not necessarily long hikes and stuff, but Oslo where I live now is a city close to the sea and Bergen, where I’m originally from, is the same - I really like living close to the sea. Other than that I think films are a great inspiration too, I like films where they create feelings without over-explaining them, a good example would be «In The Mood for Love». That’s kind of the same approach as I have to songwriting, dream pop allows me to be loud and quiet at the same time, and I kind of want to say and convey feeling without spelling them out, leaving some things up to be interpreted by the listener. 

The new album was made with your long-time collaborator Adrian Einestor Sandberg. What’s your creative process like together?

Yes, he’s been with me producing Yndling since the beginning - for the most part, I make a demo, and take it to him to help me produce it and finish it together with me. Most of the time, the song is already there, as in the lyrics, melody and like overall sound, and he helps arranging the song, and sometimes the song isn’t quite as ready and we figure out the sound more so together. He’s also like the best ever on making bridges - he’s made the bridge and guitar-solo in our track «It’s Almost Like You’re Here» for example as well as the guitar part in the bridge on «Fences». He’s also much more of a trained musician than I am, and a great guitarist, so I think we complement each other well, he definitely makes the arrangements much more interesting. He’s also got some musical influences that differs from mine - he’s the one who’s brought the Tame Impala influence into the mix and he also likes some heavier music like Pantera, and I think that blend of references have given Yndling more of an unique sound than it would have had otherwise. 

Looking ahead to the full album tour, what do you hope people take away from seeing Yndling live?

Ohhh that’s a great question. I hope they’ll enjoy spending some time with us and enjoy hearing our songs live, we do have a more of an energetic and loud set than I think some people imagine and I hope people will want to move and sing along a little. Other than that, I’m just so excited to get to meet some of our listeners, we’ve never done headline shows in the UK before and I’m really excited about that. 

What do you love right now?

Music-wise I’ve been loving Erika de Casiers’ new album «lifetime», it’s really good and I really recommend everyone to check that out

What do you hate right now?

Maybe that the Norwegian summer is coming to and end? The winter is so long here and I’m kinda dreading going through that again 

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Depression Cherry by Beach House. It was like my first dip into dream pop and introduced me to a whole new world really, it will probably always be one of my favorite albums. 

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

Oh. I don’t know. I honestly feel very lucky when people take the time to check out my music at all. For me though, making music is a very good way of having time to myself and to get a break from all the noise I have in my life and to reconnect with myself a little - so my hope would be that my music could provide that to other people too, like a little break from everyday life and rutines, and give people a calmness that they can take with them.