Thomas Dybdahl

by Mark Deming
One of Norway's most popular and acclaimed singer/songwriters, Thomas Dybdahl has gained a growing international following for his elegant and expressive songs of love and loss, which have earned him comparisons to Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley. Born in 1979, Dybdahl first caught the attention of music fans as a guitarist with the funk/acid jazz ensemble Quadraphonics, who had a following in their native Norway and eventually did some touring in Canada and the United States. Dybdahl had begun writing songs of his own with a folk-rock/alt-country feel that didn't fit in with Quadraphonics, and in 2000 he cut a solo EP, Bird. The record received small sales and little press notice, and a second EP, 2001's John Wayne, fared no better. Dybdahl's luck changed for the better with his first full-length album, 2002's ...That Great October Sound; primarily written during a visit to New York City with Dybdahl playing most of the instruments, the album's lead-off track, "From Grace," was embraced by Norwegian radio and the album went gold. The follow-up, Stray Dogs, was equally successful, and in 2004 One Day You'll Dance for Me, New York City became Dybdahl's first album created specifically for release in the United States and Canada. (A Danish version was released a year later, and was also made available as part of a box set with ...That Great October Sound and Stray Dogs, called The October Trilogy.) 2004 also saw the release of an album by Dybdahl's side project, the National Bank. Dybdahl signed a deal with Rykodisc for the release of his fourth solo set, 2006's Science, and in the spring of 2007 he launched his first tour of the United States.