After a musical hiatus of some years, Norwegian singer-songwriter Agnethe VR is working on new material. She is marking her move back to music with the first ever digital release of her 2003 debut album Inspired. “Finally releasing the album digitally gives the album its proper chance to be exposed to a new audience, along with those who knew the album from back in the day.” 

Growing up in the small seaside village of Askvoll on the west coast of Norway, Agnethe discovered soul and jazz in her teens. Her early Nordic musical heroes were Norwegian jazz-rock band Lava and the Icelandic jazz-funk-fusion band Mezzoforte, followed by US singers like Al Jarreau and Anita Baker. Moving to London in her early twenties, she wanted to live in a place where she could explore the UK music scene and -business. “So, I spent a lot of time both by myself and learning from other musicians in London in the 1990s and early 2000s, making demos, exploring how I wanted to sound and what I was capable of. ” In making her album, Agnethe took time taking in the greats of both yesterday and today, amalgamating a unique sound of her own. “A lot of the time between recording sessions was spent simply listening to a lot of inspiring music, from jazz to Brazilian folk music to fresh r&b to old school funk and boogie to classical (to calm down) ...you name it, I listened! Listening in a new and different way, I came to understand more about the production side of things, including arranging and mixing. The album title “Inspired” symbolizes the way I felt during the making of this album.” On the album, she collaborated with multi-instrumentalist and engineer Vegard ´Vanguard Vardøen. His collaborations include UK Garage group Y-Tribe hit “Enough is Enough” (feat. Elizabeth Troy), remixes for Ashanti (Def Jam UK) and co-writing and co-producing the track “Jus' a Rascal” with Mercury Prize Winner Dizzee Rascal.  

“I want my music to feel just right”, Agnethe explains. “Just right for me means something I refer to as "soulful jazzy melancholic Nordic story telling… what I write is very much rooted in a heartfelt feeling, the kind you get from the music I grew to love as a young adult… I then try to bring it into my current grown up world.” Inspired was well received by the press and media, Norway´s largest newspaper VG wrote at the time: "Inspired is an impressive collection of songs in the jazz/soul/r&b-landscape with exciting arrangements and a resonant soundtrack..." (Rating 5 of 6). Bergen newspaper BT added: "With her song "Never know", she has written one of Norway´s best songs this year". She had her first radio plays with "Man in the rain" on P4, "Music´s my man" on NRK Sogn og Fjordane, and "Time" on Czech radio station Groove-On. In the first few years following the release, Agnethe performed live with her band in various venues and festivals such as Kongsberg Jazzfestival, by:Larm, Hamar Music Festival and Lost Weekend. 

Agnethe was one of the first women to release an album on her own record label. The CD was out in selected Oslo and west coast music shops in the autumn of 2002, and she signed a distribution deal with Musikklosen in spring 2003. You can still find the CD at www.platekompaniet.no.