Röyksopp, Emilie Nicolas and ARY feature on Ane Brun's first record in six years

The Norwegian singer, songwriter and producer has built the record around trust, identity and betrayal, and what happens when the people closest to us become strangers. Rather than tracking a single relationship, Brun says the album examines how trust forms, how easily it fractures, and why people keep choosing to rely on each other regardless.

"This album became a way of understanding how deeply trust lives in us," Brun comments. "It's extraordinary that we continue to trust each other, knowing it can be broken at any moment. That vulnerability is one of the most beautiful things about being human. Maybe we should all be more aware of how valuable it is that someone trusts us."

I Thought We Were the Same is Brun's first collection of newly written songs since 2020, arriving after more than two decades in which she's released music independently and run her own label. Among the eleven tracks are collaborations with Röyksopp on "Eat the Fruit" and Emilie Nicolas on "How Can I Hold Your Hand".

"Hold Me" was co-written and produced with fellow Norwegian artist ARY and follows two people caught between wanting closeness and being unable to commit to it. Brun says she's used the record to push her sound further towards pop without losing its edge: "With this album, I wanted to experiment with how far I could take my music into a clearer and more pop sound with distinct choruses and hooks without the music losing its nerve."

The video for "Hold Me" takes its structure from the choreography of a silent dance, opening on two dancers held in a long embrace before the movement opens out into something more expressive.

I Thought We Were the Same artwork

I Thought We Were the Same tracklist

"Hold Me" (feat. ARY)
"Eat the Fruit" (feat. Röyksopp)
"Hand in the Fire"
"How Can I Hold Your Hand" (feat. Emilie Nicolas)
"Lean Into the Wind"
"Two in This Story"
"Reevaluating You"
"Can We Go Back"
"Shock Treatment"
"Certain Moments"
"In These Waters"