Kurt Nilsen

The Norwegian singer won his country’s Idol competition in 2003 and went on to win the international World Idol contest. His version of Tal Bachman’s She’s So High became an early signature recording, followed by the debut album I.

The song is a useful match for Nilsen because its melody asks for both directness and expansion. He can keep the opening conversational, then let the higher lines become more urgent without making the performance feel detached from the words. The difference in scale gives the chorus much of its appeal.

A Part of Me followed in 2004 and Push Push in 2007. The records extended his identity beyond the first televised introduction, giving the voice a wider set of songs and arrangements to inhabit.

Rise to the Occasion arrived in 2008 with a stronger country influence. Lost Highway brought him together with Willie Nelson, a meeting which made the contrast between the two singers part of the recording’s character. Nilsen’s open, ringing tone sits against a very different kind of phrasing.

That country connection also makes sense of something audible in the earlier records. Nilsen can project strongly, but his best phrases retain a sense of someone speaking through the tune. A held note works because the smaller lines around it have a clear emotional intention.

She’s So High remains a bright introduction. The later catalogue gives more room to hear how the voice can settle into a song instead of simply making an entrance.