VAARIN returns with Heading Home, her third and most personal album—a quiet meditation on memory, identity, and the pull of home.
While her 2018 debut Even If I Started Seeing Rainbows earned critical acclaim, and 2023’s The Identity of Belonging explored deeper conceptual ground, Heading Home offers a more stripped-down sound. With more than 2.7 million streams, VAARIN now stands among the most distinctive voices in Nordic music.
Born into a creative household—her mother a visual artist, her father a former rocker—VAARIN grew up surrounded by music and art. Childhood car rides played Joni Mitchell and The Beatles, and by 14, she was sneaking into the garage to compose on a Rhodes piano. These early moments helped define the cinematic melancholy that runs through her work.
Her breakout track “Lovers In Memory” gained national airplay and led to performances alongside AURORA, Fay Wildhagen, and Thomas Dybdahl. She’s played for the Norwegian prime minister and the embassy in Berlin, yet her focus remains rooted in her past.
Written on train rides back to her hometown of Hokksund, Heading Home blends upright bass, pedal steel, and harding fiddle into an earthy, folk-leaning palette. These songs evoke the stillness of childhood and the comfort of old memories. It’s a tribute to where she began and the people who shaped her.
Inspired by icons like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and Radka Toneff, VAARIN channels their emotional depth while forging her own path. Her phrasing carries their influence, but her voice remains uniquely hers.
Whether on stage or in solitude, VAARIN’s music invites reflection. Heading Home feels like a soft return to somewhere sacred—a quiet place where memory lives and time briefly stops.
