Q&A: Norway’s Iris Caltwait on her second album Again, for the first time: “I kept changing, so the music also had to change”

Words: Emma Driver
Image: Bertine Monsen
Published: 11 November 2025

It’s our belief at Women In Pop that every pop lover should have a healthy serving of Norwegian artists in their diet. Singers from Norway with big pop profiles, like AURORA, Astrid S and Sigrid (and let’s not forget that ABBA’s Frida Lyngstad was Norwegian-born), are just the tip of the iceberg. Sweden attracts a big chunk of the musical attention up north, but Norway, with only half the population of Sweden (a mere 5.5 million) and its smaller music industry, has its own rich layers of pop songwriters and artists who are inspired and nurtured by their Norwegian home.

Iris Caltwait is one of them. The 29-year-old singer, songwriter and producer is based in Bergen, on Norway’s west coast, and has been releasing music since her early twenties. Her debut EP, a sensitive being, landed in April 2019, and seven months later she won Norway’s Årets Urørt award – the annual “newcomer of the year” accolade handed out by radio station NRK P3, after a grand final performance by finalists. It’s a big deal – the year before Caltwait won it, girl in red (Marie Ringheim) had taken home the award.

Caltwait supported AURORA on concert dates in Norway and the UK in 2019, played European festival dates, and over the next few years continued writing and releasing her particular style of thoughtful indie-pop – on her own, and in collaboration. 2021 brought her debut album love and other disasters, while producer Askjell’s track ‘Sofia’ the same year featured ethereal closing vocals from Caltwait and AURORA, clocking up 10 million Spotify streams (and counting).

Again, for the first time is Caltwait’s second full-length album, coming four years after her debut – plenty of time to experiment with her sound and stack up the kind of life experiences that add richness to her writing. It’s also the first album released under her full name – not the shortened “iris” of her earlier releases. Along with producer Askjell and other collaborators, Caltwait has written, performed and co-produced a collection of beauty and vulnerability, its indie-pop leaning into subtle electronica at times, then into synth onslaught, or the delicate simplicity of just vocal and guitar.

Standout songs come one after the other across these 16 tracks. Recent single ‘Serpentine’, for instance: Caltwait’s voice, clear and pensive, draws us in, along with a plucked guitar, but the lyric immediately sets up a contrast. Sweetly, Caltwait sings, “You stepped on my toes / And I stayed quiet” … just one of the images of inflicted pain that resonate across the album. A snaky lover with “angel eyes” has shown their true colours, and as the pace of the lyric picks up, so does Caltwait’s frustration. The manipulated, child-like vocal of the bridge – “Snakes have skulls with several bones / And a bendable jaw to swallow you whole” – makes the point even more disturbing. This is a predator-and-prey situation, but Caltwait’s “Judas-kissed” narrator is alive to tell the tale.

‘these are hard times (Say the Words!)’ is another high point, five tracks into the album. Each section has its own distinctive hook, leading into a chorus that builds with its repeated melody fragments: “These are hard times, telling white lies / I’m here smiling in all your photographs.” Moods intertwine as Caltwait sings of suffering in silence, smiling and breaking inside, layers of electro-pop whirling around to mimic the rush of unexpressed feelings. ‘i’m in the corner, alone’ is its flipside: what happens when you find a way to numb the pain? Is life any better? Some of the New Wave-ish textures of the track make it feel like Caltwait is hiding in the corner of an ‘80s club night, watching the action alone.

‘Spring Rush (a hot platonic subatomic crush)’ is a crush song, exactly as the title suggests. “I think I’m falling in love,” Caltwait sings, adding a sexy and straightforward lyric that suggests the lust object takes their shoes, socks and pants off. Big, echoing vocals are sustained by a bobbing beat, keyboard lines and bright, sunny drum feels (hello, hi-hat). At the other end of the sound spectrum is ‘PINHOLE’, a mini-masterpiece, like peeking through the tiniest crack into one person’s feelings about another. Reduced down to voice and nylon-string guitar, the track has an intimate, demo quality, as if we’re listening on an old gramophone record, with warped string parts towards the end lending a vintage wobbliness. “Are you still inside my voice recorder?” Caltwait asks, and it’s as if she’s locked inside too, with only a pinhole to see beyond the sadness and regret that have seeped into the song. Then ‘this is the place’, with its slower tempo and space to breathe, goes further into the collision of dreams and reality: “If this is what I waited for / Why was I waiting?”

Among the tracks are experimental interludes too; the first (‘… har du problemer?’) features her parents’ voices recorded when Caltwait was a child. ‘it’s you it’s you it’s you’ is almost operatic (Caltwait is a classically trained singer), just a sustained keyboard and voice providing an otherworldly coda to ‘Dragonfly’, a gently strummed track inspired by Caltwait’s beloved grandmother. Never oversinging, Caltwait knows how to use her voice to its greatest effect, keeping its feather-light quality as she glides around her notes. The album weaves through its indie-pop landscapes and modes of the heart with grace – never boring, and always bending at the edges of the pop template in new and interesting ways.

On the eve of its release, Women In Pop had a chance to ask Iris about the making of Again, for the first time, what’s so special about Norwegian pop and her upcoming tour dates in Europe. Iris wrote her responses for us, in her own poetic style, while en route from Bangkok to Oslo.

Hi Iris! Thanks so much for taking the time to fill in this Q&A. How is life in your world right now?

of course! and thank you. life is good, a bit hectic and noisy, and sometimes it feels like the road i’m on keeps taking these sudden turns, and i struggle a little to keep up with the pace …

as i’m answering these questions, i’m on a plane from Bangkok to Oslo. i just spent two weeks in Tokyo writing music, making a music video, meeting new people, hanging out with old friends, tasting food i’ve never tasted before. so right now i feel extremely lucky and blessed, and a bit overwhelmed in a good way.

A big congratulations on the release of your new album Again, for the first time. It’s a really beautiful and thought-provoking collection. This is your first album under your new stage name, and you’ve said this new music is a reclamation of your voice. While it may seem like a small change to some, has the name change had any impact on or altered your creativity?

thank you so much for such kind words, that really means a lot. it still feels new, but at the same time very natural. i’ve been Caltwait since high school, so it’s very me. it feels right, to not be just “iris”, but to evolve somehow. “iris” felt too short, and it made sense to give myself (my artist name) a surname finally.

i think, for me, with all my thoughts and this endless process of trying to find my place both within myself and in the world, the name change was a step i needed to take. in one way, it’s just a name, but in another, it’s helping me feel more like myself, i think?

This album is your first new music in over three years. How did that time away inform and influence this collection of songs?

for me, it hasn’t really felt like i’ve been away. i’ve spent the time writing, studying, surviving, working, living my life. all of that noise, all those things that happened over the past three years, that’s what made the album. or maybe, that’s what made me make the album.

it took this long mostly because life kept happening, and i kept changing, so the music also had to change. not having the pressure of having to release something, but instead allowing it to take the time it needed – that was so good for me, and for the music.

You’ve said a lot of the album is about reconnecting with the child you were, as well as the person you want to be as an adult. Can you tell us a little bit more about how this concept inspired the album?

yes, so, it’s not like i started with that concept and decided to write more about it, it was more something i found along the way … i’ve been searching, digging myself down and trying to lift myself up again. and in that process, i realised how much i’d lost, parts of me that had gone quiet – like struggling to feel anger when i should have.

when i was at my lowest, i started doing the gritty, uncomfortable work of changing my thought patterns, learning to talk to myself in a different way. i used the image of myself as a child, imagining talking to her instead, or to a friend. it’s a kind of work where, for a long time, it doesn’t seem like anything’s changing. but it’s worth it; trying to make your mind a comfortable place to live in. the songs are mostly about things that happened during these past three years, but what’s different is that i’ve tried to keep both feet on the ground, checking in with the inner child, making sure i’m taking care of her too. and also accepting and learning what’s changed, and why it had to.

You also deal with grief on the album, most poignantly on ‘Dragonfly’, where you question if life is worth all the pain it puts us through. can you tell me a little bit more about that concept and the creation of ‘Dragonfly’?

‘Dragonfly’, for me, is my brother’s face when we found my grandmother and realised there was nothing we could do. it’s the sound of her sister when she got the news, my mother’s voice on the phone. the crying that filled every room even when i wasn’t crying. i remember it broke my heart in a way that made me want to run away. it made me think, “maybe this isn’t worth it.” even though we loved each other so much, this pain we now had to carry felt too heavy. it made me think, “so this is life now – we love so deeply, and this is the price we pay.” we start losing the people we love, and there’s never enough time. there are always more things we wanted to say, more we wanted to do. but suddenly they’re gone, and the world keeps moving. it doesn’t stop for anyone. ‘Dragonfly’ was a desperate call to myself to not close off. a reminder that it is worth it. that there’s no other way. within all that sadness lives all that love that doesn’t disappear.

The album closes with one of the standout tracks, ‘Alchemy (Living Is Not For The Heart)’. It ties together the themes of the album and forges a positive path forward. Sonically, the electro-pop sound feels like a release, the lightest moment on the record. What is the story behind this song?

thank you so much!! it was actually one of the first songs i wrote for the album, and the moment i realised, “oh, this is an album,” and sort of saw what was at the core of all my desperation and frustration. And it was something along the lines of: LIFE IS TOO INTENSE and i don’t know how to deal with it. i really thought i’d be better at handling things by now, but i was surprised at how easily i’d get punched to the ground by things.

i started writing it on piano, finding my way to the opening lyrics “i’ve said it too many times, i’m ready to let go.” i was frustrated and sad that no matter how ready i said i was to let go, i never really could. every time i tried, it felt like the thing itself was holding onto me.

but with this song, the conclusion became more about understanding than forgetting, or letting go. i tried to understand and even accept that life is crazy, and there’s no thing as a perfect coper (is there? someone who copes perfectly with life???). we weren’t built for all of this beauty and pain and chaos. so if you’re feeling a little crazy, that’s okay??? you’re trying to survive in a world that’s crazy too.

For those who might be new to your music, what’s your background? How did your career start, and how did you get to where you are today?

i come from a family full of music – not professionally, but my brother and dad played in bands, and everyone either played an instrument and/or are HUGE music lovers.

i started learning guitar as a teenager, and then started writing songs. in high school i studied music. i did classical singing for three years and loved it. my best friend and i started an indie-pop band around that time, and that’s when i first got to go into a studio, record songs, play gigs, tour a little. i used to be terrified of performing, but doing it together with her made it fun.

this was all in Bergen, where i grew up. the music scene there is small but so supportive and welcoming. i started working with MADE Management, who are also based in Bergen … and i got to meet producers and songwriters in London, Stockholm, Oslo. but the most important collaborations i’ve had are the ones i met in Bergen. i started writing with Askjell Solstrand (who produced my first single, my first album, and now this album too), and the rest is history :)

Norway has produced so many incredible artists over the years – most notably Aurora and Sigrid. What’s so special about the Norwegian music scene, in your opinion?

it’s hard to say, but i think what makes it special is that it’s small? people know each other, and they care for each other.

Bergen especially feels like that. it gave me the space to grow, to find people i trust, and to learn … i think great music comes from great storytelling. even if you don’t understand the language (like when i listen to Rosalía or Sigur Rós), you still feel it. And great storytellers come from all over the world. maybe there’s a directness, a melancholic tone, a bit of gallows humour in the Norwegian storytellers that makes it special.

While Norwegian artists like AURORA and Sigrid have had incredible success, pop music has always been a difficult space for female artists. What are your thoughts on gender (in)equality in the music industry, and is it any better in Norway?

this is something i think about a lot and it makes my blood boil. it’s frustrating, especially the feeling that, as a woman, you sometimes have to prove your ability again and again, or that people can be a bit dismissive of what you actually do/can do. there’s also this idea that women in music should have this youthfulness and look young and beautiful, whereas men don’t really have to live up to the same standards. there are of course pressures on all people when it comes to this, but we all know that there is a huge difference for women.

another thing that bothers me … is how often women don’t get credit for their work. if a man produces an album with help from engineers or co-producers, he’s the producer. if a woman does the same, she’s not seen as the producer. for me, i’ve named myself co-producer on all the tracks of the album because it is my vision and my sound and my universe, even when i haven’t physically touched the computer on most of the songs. of course it is a collaboration, and the people i’ve worked with have been irreplaceable in the process of making this, but i still feel it’s important that i don’t let it slide how IN IT i am when it comes to every single detail, every single sound.

in Norway, a lot of the successful women are solo artists, while the men often have bands. it’s like women are expected to stand alone somehow … if not, we risk not getting the credit or praise for the work we actually do.

i think no matter who you are, you have to work hard to make it in this industry, though some start the race with a head start. there are privileges i don’t have, and some that i do. i try to stay aware of both. i just want to keep showing up, keep making music that feels honest – and keep supporting and carving out space for women and other minorities to be seen as whole artists and creative geniuses. strange how rare [it is when] they call people other than men geniuses!

Again, for the first time is out on November 7. What creative plans do you have for the rest of the year and into 2026?

right now i’m just trying to take it all in. i’ve been living with this album for so long, and i’m excited (and nervous) to finally let it go. i want to play shows, meet people, and create space around the music – to really live in it for a while.

after that, i want to keep writing. i already feel the outlines of what’s to come creatively, but I’m trying to stay open to everything, anything. maybe i’ll travel a little more, maybe go somewhere quiet.

Iris Caltwait’s album Again, for the first time is out now. You can download and stream here.
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Iris Caltwait - Live
12 November - Strongroom, London
29 January - Byscenen, Trondheim (Trondheim Calling)
3 February - Kantine am Berghain, Berlin
4 February - POPUP! du label, Paris
12 February - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
13 February - Parkteatret, Oslo (Matinee)
13 February - Parkteatret, Oslo
14 February - Tou Scene, Stavanger