Fresh from her collaboration with Norwegian dance artist Bendik HK, released earlier this month, Scandinavian singer/songwriter Ane Brun has shared the first track – entitled "Two in This Story" – to be taken from her as-yet-untitled 11th studio album, due later this year.

Listen here:

"Two in This Story" finds her in a reflective, soulful mood, looking back on a close friendship that unravelled when it became clear that the other party was not at all who they'd pretended to be.

Writing on Instagram, Brun explains:

"I’ve always been the kind of friend growing up that was a bit naïve when it came to new people. I always think the best of people I meet, and I mostly believe what they tell me. This has led me to have a lot of really close friends. But in the last few years, I experienced a very overwhelming turn of events. A person close to me turned out to be a fraud. Years of friendship, stories, and a lot of drama, it all turned out to be lies. Despite everything that happened, I have decided to keep being 'optimistic' about people and stay open to new friendships. And of course, do what I do best as an artist – write songs about it!"

Evolving from a pre-production demo that sounded to Brun like something Bryan Ferry might come up with back in the '80s, "Two in This Story" is built on a drum machine sample that "runs through the whole track, focusing all the dynamics on the layering of the synths and the vocals.”

“When I started writing this song on the piano, it felt very instant, almost as if it existed already,”she adds. “It’s a very weird feeling when that happens.”

Brun has been announced for this year's Øya Festival in her hometown of Oslo on August 9. Additional tour dates for 2025/2026 will be announced soon.