"This is amazing! Maria writes such mature lyrics, and her distinctive songs are quite extraordinary for an 18-year-old", says Erik Hillestad. "Maria is a rare talent". Maria Solheim exhibits an instant melodic sense and great dynamic width in her music. The music is based on acoustic pop-rock in the singer-songwriter tradition. She writes all lyrics and music herself. "Normally the lyrics set the mood for the music", says Maria. "The songs reveal themselves as little secrets as I work. They're pictures, painted in words and tunes."

Bengt Egil Hanssen (Kari Bremnes' regular pianist) is producer on Maria Solheim's debut recording. When he heard Maria Solheim for the first time in 1997, he sensed a great musical talent. Barefoot is coloured by Bengt's musical experience, and some very skillful studio musicians.

We don't often get young debutantes of Maria Solheim's calibre in this country. She certainly has talent enough for a lifelong career as artist and song writer, and she speaks her heart. Exhibitionism or success is not what drives her, but rather an inner pressure that is released through her texts and tunes. And despite her young age, she moulds and performs her material with a mature sense of expression and quality.

On "Behind closed doors", Maria Solheim is backed by musicians belonging to her own generation. They're not primarily experienced session musicians this time, but young and fresh hands who serve up tunes and grooves with no mercy. The result is music full of thrust and enthusiasm. You sense that Maria's songs and the physical expression of the new band belong together. The songs are in a sense performed without being "arranged". Both the sound and the musical style are quite different from "Barefoot" from 2001, with a result that is simpler and rougher.

Will There Be Spring (2006)

A lot has come to pass since Maria Solheim (24) released her last album, “Frail”, two years ago. Since then, Maria has performed concerts in Great Britain, China, Thailand, Japan, The United States, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as in Scandinavia, including a “royal command” - performance at the christening of princess Ingrid, heiress to the Norwegian throne.

It was a little…different, indeed, laughs Maria. Usually when I perform, I tend to focus on familiar faces in the audience, and on that occasion the only people I knew where the crown prince and the crown princess. It was quite an experience. A great honour, and a nice memory to look back on later.

Despite her tender age, Maria, who was discovered at fifteen while playing her first ever gig in a small fishing community in the arctic north of Norway, is now established as one of the country’s leading singer/songwriters. So how would she describe the difference between the Maria Solheim of today, and the teenager who made her debut on 2001’s “Barefoot”?

Experience has given me a sense of self-confidence, which has spurred me to take some chances. By all means, Will There Be Spring is not a “difficult” record, but it pushes the envelope a bit. A little bit more psychedelica, a little bit more madness. The fact that the album was recorded on analog equipment had a big influence on the final result, it has become a simpler and more direct record than it would have been had it been done digitally.

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