Ida Wenøe (pron. EEda VAYnoo) is an indie-folk artist, with tinges of Americana and a Nordic inflection. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Bio

“Bewitching acid folk with a deeply personal edge”– Clash Magazine

Amongst a digital mountain range littered with accomplished folk-ish bands and singersongwriters, it is a rare miracle to come across a cave so rich in jewels as the one beneath Ida Wenøe’s ribcage. While she has an obvious appreciation of Americana, her sound is very definitely laced with more English undertones: the kind of sound Edward Woodward might have heard downstairs in the local inn had the Wicker Man been filmed in a remote Danish village, while Sarah Lund scoured for clues in her jumper. Like the best of the Nordic Noir leaving the Danish mainland, the recordings are at once both sonically pure and grimy; there’s a shared loneliness that makes you feel that you’re not at all; and all the while there is an honesty to the songwriting that tugs at your sleeve. While her grasp of English is second nature, there’s some of those intriguing turns of phrase that only a heart that dreams in another language can weave:

“The deep conceals things that are real/ look beyond the mirror/look beyond the mirror” ,“I know we see things differently/as long as it’s not separately” and “You’re a fish in a bottle/a cock in a coop/the essence of trying…”

Sure, she has the usual credible influences from Vashti to Joni, from Neil Young to Danish folk hero Sebastian; and there’s hints of Sandy Denny and Linda Perhacs. But to list artists she sounds like would be to miss the point entirely. As anyone who has witnessed a live show can attest, Ida Wenøe is very definitely Ida Wenøe. As Carsten Holm at Danish Radio P6 Beat put it, “she has an icy, almost Icelandic timbre. I haven’t heard this in any other Danish artist… an incredibly strong vocal…” God Is In The TV Zine went on to say her voice “boasts angelic notes which can often leak her endearing Danish roots…”

Wenøe´s debut album “Time of Ghosts” was released in The Nordic Countries in 2015 through Songcrafter Music, and created lot of attention. The following year Ida played showcases and concerts in Denmark, Sweden, USA, England, Germany, Switzerland, The Faroe Islands and Poland. She was nominated for a Danish Music Award as “Folk Songwriter of the Year”, and her music was used in DR (National TV) documentary “De Smukke Piger”. A showcase concert at Tonder Festival lead to a collaboration with UK booking agency BlueHouse Music, who set up a successful trio tour with Ida and her band The Silver Cords in the UK in 2016. In 2017 “Time of Ghosts” was released in the UK through Shellshock Distribution / The Orchard to wonderful reviews and was followed up by two live tours in April and November 2017. A showcase at SPOT Festival in Denmark in May 2017 lead to a new collaboration with German label DanCan Music and German booking agency Devil Duck Booking. “Time of Ghosts” was released in GSA in February 2018 and Ida toured in Italy, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Pakistan during the spring.

The fall of 2018 was spent recording the new album “The Things We Don´t Know Yet” with Danish producer Esben Svane, and it was released on April 12th 2019 in a collaboration between Songcrafter Music (The Nordics) and Integrity Records (rest of the world). The album got some fabulous reviews especially in the UK, and Wenøe played shows and festivals in UK, Austria and Denmark during the summer and fall of 2019.

During Corona lockdown and lots of cancellations in 2020 Ida Wenøe wrote and recorded a new single “One Step” that was mixed by Grammy Award winning US producer Tucker Martine (REM, Suffjan Stevens, Decembrists). It was released to wonderful reviews in both England and Germany and airplay on BBC6 Music, Amazing Radio, Radio Fritz, DR P6 and lots of smaller stations all over the world. In May 2021 the second single “Echoes” from the new album was released. Once again written and recorded by Ida Wenøe herself and this time mixed by Swedish top producer Tobias Fröberg (Ane Brun, Lisa Ekdahl). This single got fabulous reviews as well and has kickstarted Wenøe´s return til the live scene in Denmark.

In November 2021 Ida Wenøe won her first Danish Music Award (Grammy) as “Roots Artist of the Year” 2021.

Press Quotes – Ida Wenøe

“Ida Wenøe har lavet en fortryllende musikvideo til den smukke single “Echoes”, der giver den organiske sang en ny dimension. Tjek den ud!”

(Bands of Tomorrow, May 27th 2021)

“This really is a powerful single, instantly contemporary sounding but also so classic – calling to mind some of the best vintage sounds I miss in the music of today. What’s not to love? Exceptionally well-crafted as always…hold on to tour seat.” Folk Radio UK (May 26th 2021)

“The songs on this album have depth and breadth. Her musicianship is obvious, with her multi-layered harmonies and the range of instruments she plays on the recording. She has her own sound, but she’s recognisably Scandinavian, with that ability to create optimistic and even pop songs out of loss and heartbreak.” (Penny Black Music, 2019)

“I’ve written too much, but ‘The Things We Don’t Know Yet’ has made such an impact, with 9 tracks that are so distinct in their own right, individually crafted and textured musically, all with the most thoughtful of words to accompany it. Ida Wenøe is able to create such intensity and command such presence through her quiet, delicate vocals and guitar – with the sparsest of instrumental support.” (Nordic Music Review – Album of the week, 2019)

“This is destined to be a regular ‘go-to’ album for those moments when I need music to soothe or transport. Delightful album, pretty well flawless” (Music News, Andy Snipper, 2019)

“I could go on and on about each of the songs on the record, about what I feel, what I see when I listen to them, but I leave that to each of you – go through “The Things We Don’t Know Yet” on your own and take what you need from it. Ida Wenøe gives you plenty of space and time in sharing herself and her music on this album.” (Good because Danish, 2019)

“She describes the album as about reminding people to take time to think and to know love properly, to look inside and realise that what you have may be worth more than what you’re chasing, to find the patience to be in and enjoy the moment instead of always seeking for the next one. Take a breath, soak it in and be touched by its magic.” (Folk Radio UK, 2019)

“… a childlike fragility that makes the songs sound like whimsical folk for fairy tales with a sinister undertow. Her voice – weary but cute, with the power to cut through – is perfect; she sounds like the young narrator of her own magical-malevolent fantasies…” (The Guardian)

“Bewitching acid folk with a deeply personal edge.” (Clash Magazine)

“Both calming and uplifting, Ida seems to have perfected the knack of making even the loneliest listener feel understood, validated and less alone.” (Wonderland Magazine)

Threads of loneliness run through her yearning vocal, lamenting over and over “I miss you now / Like I missed you then”. There’s something chilling about Wenøe’s work, suggesting the intriguing singer-songwriter knows things you don’t, and perhaps never will.

(The Line Of Best Fit)

“… the sort of voice that could punch through a cloud of custard and pierce thick air… she delicately rips through… with eyes full of hope…” (Songwriting Magazine)

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard an artist perfectly capture the distinctive sound of late ’80s/early ’90s folk-pop—that kind of glassy glaze that cuts right to your core—but Danish singer/songwriter Ida Wenøe has done just that with her emotionally-charged and uplifting new album Time Of Ghosts. And as great as the full LP is, this listener keeps returning again and again to the Jane Siberry-like title track.” (Nordic Spotlight)