An instrument that had its genesis in Hawaii a century and a half ago, the pedal steel guitar has reached into many corners of the world’s music scene. Two of the leading players of alternative pedal steel from Norway and the UK, Geir Sundstøl and Joe Harvey-Whyte, have teamed up to create Langeleik, which flows in a mood-shifting sonic groove largely inspired by Joe Harvey-Whyte’s favorite rivers but also incorporating noirish urban landscapes, field recordings, spoken word and vintage synths.
Geir Sundstøl is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer based in Oslo. After nearly a quarter century of playing as a sideman, he released his own first album in 2015 to critical acclaim. Langeleik is his eighth release on Hubro. Similarly, the younger Joe Harvey-Whyte is a multi-faceted musician, artist and producer specializing in various types of steel guitar. He’s done a lot of session work and has at least three releases under his own name. The two have been acquainted since Joe first heard Geir’s solo debut Furulund, 10 years ago now. In the summer of 2024 Joe travelled to Oslo for some sessions in Geir’s Studio Intim. Most of the music on Langeleik was written and created in the studio, using Geir’s trove of instruments, vintage synthesizers and amps and more. It’s named for one of Norway’s signature folk instruments, a dulcimer-like zither.
“I have a deep love of Norway,” Joe says. “From hitchhiking from London to Tromsø in search of the Northern Lights when I was 18, to touring the length of the country with Susanne Sundfør, adventuring in Lofoten and now making this record in Oslo with Geir. I have spent a lot of time getting to know the country and forging emotional connections with the people and the landscape. Sonically this record is less typically “ambient” or “Americana” than other records in my recent catalogue. It feels Norwegian to me.”
I’d love to visit this Norway that sounds like Langeleik. From the fluid call and response of the opener “Tana” to the dreamy “Der elvene møtes” (Where the rivers meet), it’s a journey through a deeply observed and imagined soundscape. Though the pedal steel guitar is the focus, this soundscape is richly varied. Joe takes the lead on a finger picked steel stringed acoustic guitar on “Otra Mantra” and on the rugged tune “The Tyburn,” named for one of London’s iconic rivers that lends its name to a former site of state executions.
Deep dub bass underlies the mysterious, synth-rich “Lea Dub.” Both “Tista lengter” and “Bleikstranda” lean heavily into some of the plethora of other instruments listed in the credits, which include the complex Optigan, shruti box, synths and field sounds. I’m not usually a big fan of spoken word tracks but I’ll make an exception for “Rørvikelva,” in which Norwegian poet Ivar Orvedal recites verse over a shimmering base of optigan and pedal steel. It came together serendipitously when Geir recalled this recording of the poet that he’d made but never utilized.
“The words are about things can be art even if it’s not discovered, and that books are a great hiding place for things that doesn’t want to be found. I think,” Geir says, cryptically.
As with so much of the Hubro catalog, Langeleik is hard to categorize. Alternative but in many ways quite accessible. Hypnotic, moving, ambient yet demanding attention. Recommended for all lovers of experimental guitar music.
(Hubro, 2026)
