Darkplace releases Älvdans on February 6th, 2026, the third and final single ahead of the upcoming album About Nordic Folklore, out March 6th via Icons Creating Evil Art. Where previous singles explored paralysis and nocturnal terror, Älvdans shifts the focus toward movement — the irresistible pull of the dance.

Rooted in Nordic folklore, Älvdans delves into the myth of the sirens: beautiful and merciless beings said to appear dancing on fog-covered meadows at night. To witness their dance is to risk losing yourself entirely, drawn into a trance that ends in madness or death. The song captures this slow seduction — not through violence or shock, but through repetition, rhythm, and motion.

“Where Maran embodies paralysis and nocturnal terror, Älvdans represents movement — the unseen force that lures the body forward.”

Musically, Älvdans moves further away from electronics and deeper into a folky, almost baroque darkwave expression. Post-punk structures intertwine with ritualistic folk melodies, droning bowed guitars, and ghostly rhythms, creating a sound that feels both ancient and eerily present. The danger is subtle and hypnotic rather than suffocating, revealing itself gradually as the song unfolds.

The track was built from atmosphere outward.

“I began by trying to capture what a foggy meadow would sound like,” Darkplace explains. “From there, it builds toward the chorus, which is entirely about the dance.”

Drawing inspiration from old Swedish logdans traditions — rural communal dances from centuries past — Älvdans evokes spins, twirls, and circular motion. The bass follows a heavy, bowed pattern — boom, bombom, boom, bombom — grounding the track in something distinctly Nordic. The first chorus arrives slowly and invitingly, with drums fading in like footsteps approaching from the fog.

Midway through, the song introduces the human presence.

“I imagined a midsummer party past midnight — everyone drunk and tired under the midnight sun. People begin to notice the sirens dancing in the foggy meadow, and one by one, they join in.”

The second and final chorus reaches full intensity before dissolving once more into emptiness. The outro returns the listener to the meadow — now silent, with no sign of sirens or humans — leaving only the lingering sense that something has passed through.

As the final single before About Nordic Folklore, Älvdans completes the album’s duality: the unseen weight that presses down, and the unseen force that pulls you forward. The album arrives March 6th, 2026.

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With About Nordic Folklore, Darkplace unveils a haunting and immersive album built around nine creatures from Nordic myth and oral tradition. Released digitally on March 6th, 2026 via Icons Creating Evil Art, the record marks a deepening of the project’s singular vision — where music, mythology, and atmosphere merge into a unified world of sound and shadow.

Each track inhabits its own presence, drawing from folklore that once explained fear, nature, and the unseen. Rather than retelling myths literally, Darkplace explores their emotional and psychological weight: paralysis, seduction, terror, longing, and transformation. The album unfolds like a series of nocturnal encounters, moving from suffocating stillness to hypnotic motion, from water spirits and forest beings to creatures that visit in dreams.

Musically, About Nordic Folklore expands on Darkplace’s darkwave and post-punk foundations while incorporating black metal elements, dark folk, ritualistic structures, bowed guitars, and organic textures. Electronics are used sparingly but purposefully, giving way at times to more ancient, almost baroque expressions. Influences can be traced to artists such as Ulver and Swans, yet the album remains deeply rooted in its own Nordic atmosphere.

Key Tracks & Themes
The album opens with Näcken, a dark and brooding introduction to the mythic world of the record, followed by Bäckahästen, where children’s laughter fades beneath the surface of dangerous waters. Bysen presents a fleeting, almost tender figure, while Bergakungen invokes the sovereign ruler of the mountains in a stark, declarative form.

Älvdans, the album’s third single, explores the myth of the sirens — beautiful and merciless beings said to dance on fog-covered meadows at night. To witness their dance is to risk losing oneself entirely.

“Älvdans moves further away from electronics and deeper into a folky, almost baroque darkwave expression. It’s hypnotic rather than aggressive, seductive rather than suffocating — its danger revealed slowly, through repetition and motion.”

In contrast, Maran, the second single, delves into one of the most intimate and unsettling figures in Nordic folklore: the Mare, a nocturnal spirit that visits sleepers, sits on their chest, steals breath, and twists dreams into nightmares.

“Maran explores what slips through keyholes and cracks. She terrorises the sleeping, riding the chest, creating paralysis and shortness of breath. I wanted the bass to be something you feel physically, just as Maran rides heavy on your chest.”

The album continues through Trolltyg and Huldra, before closing with Havsrå” a final return to the water — different, yet the same — leaving the listener suspended between myth and memory.

All music, lyrics, mixing, and mastering are handled by Darkplace, reinforcing the project’s deeply personal and self-contained nature.

About Darkplace
Darkplace is an anonymous music and art project operating at the intersection of sound, folklore, and visual storytelling. Treating each release as a holistic work rather than a collection of songs, Darkplace builds immersive worlds where myth, atmosphere, and psychological tension quietly intertwine. Previous releases explored imagined dystopian futures; About Nordic Folklore turns inward and backward, excavating ancient fears that still linger beneath the surface of modern life.
True to form, the identity behind Darkplace remains obscured — allowing the work itself to speak, breathe, and haunt without distraction.

LABEL CONTACT

Carl-Marcus Gidlöf
Head of the Snake
Icons Creating Evil Art
Råsundavägen 73, Solna
Sweden
cmg@icea.se