Norrda | Remedy
Norrda’s “Remedy” - how a Turkish trio living on three continents created a melancholic electroacoustic masterpiece blending Eastern percussion, Northern melancholy, and Western guitars in 2007.
Story Behind “Remedy”
Three Continents, One Opening Statement
“Remedy” opens Infinite Face with a statement about distance and longing. When Selen Hünerli, Deniz Cuylan, and Hakan Vreskala formed Norrda in 2007, they knew collaboration would never be simple. Vreskala lived in Stockholm after being accepted to the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 2001. Cuylan stayed in Istanbul, where he’d been building a reputation through his Maya project and work with Portecho. Hünerli divided her time between music projects and cinema studies, having started with the R&B and soul band Bitter before moving toward electronic and psychedelic sounds.
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The name Norrda comes from the Swedish word “nor,” meaning “north” - a reference to Vreskala’s adopted home and the musical direction the trio wanted to explore. But “north” also meant something metaphorical: a sonic territory that existed between Turkish traditions, Western electronic production, and the melancholic atmospheres of Scandinavian music. “Remedy” captures this geographical and emotional span in its opening moments, setting the template for everything that follows on the album.
The lyrics begin with apology and yearning - “I’m sorry that I keep you waiting / Believe me I want...” - perfectly mirroring the band’s own situation. Creating music across three time zones meant waiting became part of the creative process. Yet this distance shaped their sound in unexpected ways. Rather than compromising their vision for easier collaboration, they leaned into the spaces between them, creating music that felt both intimate and impossibly far away.
The Album That Introduced Turkey to Electroacoustic Fusion
Akkiraz Müzik, an Istanbul-based independent label, released Infinite Face on September 24, 2007. The album arrived at a moment when Turkish alternative music was expanding beyond rock and traditional folk. Electronic producers like Mercan Dede had demonstrated international appeal for Turkish-influenced electronica, while bands like Portecho (which included Cuylan) were pushing indie rock in new directions. Norrda occupied a unique space: too experimental for mainstream audiences, too melodic and accessible for purely avant-garde circles.
The trio’s approach emphasized restraint over density. With just voice, guitar, and percussion as their primary tools - augmented by electronics and carefully chosen ethnic instruments - they created expansive soundscapes that never felt cluttered. Hünerli’s vocals, described universally as “melancholic” and “kadife sesli” (velvet-voiced), provided emotional anchor points without dominating the arrangements. Cuylan’s guitar work blended Western rock techniques with modal scales common in Turkish and Middle Eastern music. Vreskala’s percussion drew from his classical training, his work with Turkish and Balkan musicians, and his thrash metal origins, creating rhythmic foundations that shifted between driving grooves and atmospheric texture.
“Remedy” established this aesthetic immediately. At 4:26, it’s the second-longest track on the album, giving the band room to develop ideas gradually. The song doesn’t rush toward resolution - it inhabits tension, exploring the emotional space between wanting connection and accepting distance.
“Remedy” Recording and Production Details
Writing from Three Separate Worlds
According to interviews with the band, Norrda’s creative process involved Vreskala and Cuylan developing instrumental foundations first, with Hünerli writing lyrics and melodies over completed music. This approach meant the songs could develop without needing all three members in the same studio, crucial given their geographic separation. For Infinite Face, this process allowed each member to contribute from their strengths: Cuylan’s production experience and guitar work shaped the sonic architecture, Vreskala’s percussion provided rhythmic complexity and ethnic textures, and Hünerli’s lyrics and vocals transformed instrumental sketches into emotional narratives.
Deniz Cuylan handled much of the production work, bringing experience from his previous projects. His background included producing music for television, film, commercials, and fashion shows in cities including Düsseldorf and Moscow. He’d also worked as editor of alternative music magazine “Bant” and hosted the radio show “Tirtillar,” giving him broad exposure to electronic and experimental music beyond Turkey’s borders. This international perspective informed Norrda’s production aesthetic, which avoided obvious world music clichés in favor of subtler cultural cross-pollination.
Minimal Instrumentation, Maximum Atmosphere
“Remedy” features the core Norrda setup: Hünerli’s vocals, Cuylan’s guitars and electronics, and Vreskala’s percussion. The production emphasizes space and reverb, placing Hünerli’s voice in an expansive sonic environment that suggests both intimacy and distance. Her vocal delivery remains restrained, never pushing toward dramatic climaxes but instead maintaining a consistent emotional intensity that mirrors the song’s themes of waiting and yearning.
Cuylan’s guitar work combines clean tones with electronic processing, creating textures that hover between acoustic and synthetic. The rhythm at 79 BPM establishes a deliberate, unhurried pace that gives each element room to breathe. Vreskala’s percussion adds layers gradually, incorporating both Western drum kit elements and hand percussion that reference Turkish and Middle Eastern traditions without directly quoting them.
The production for Infinite Face was credited to the band members themselves, with writing credits shared between Hünerli, Cuylan, and Vreskala. This collaborative approach extended through the entire album, which Discogs lists as copyright 2013 Akkiraz Müzik despite the 2007 release date, possibly indicating reissue or re-mastering dates.
Notes About “Remedy” by Norrda
Release Date: September 24, 2007
Duration: 4:26
Genre: Electroacoustic / Downtempo / World Fusion
Album: Infinite Face (debut album, track 1 of 9)
Label: Akkiraz Müzik (Istanbul)
Total Album Length: 40 minutes (9 tracks)
BPM: 79 (slow, deliberate tempo)
Language: English
Album Availability: Digital platforms (originally released on CD)
Norrda “Remedy” Era Band Details
Album Details
Album: Infinite Face
Release Date: September 24, 2007
Label: Akkiraz Müzik
Copyright: 2013 Akkiraz Müzik
Total Tracks: 9
Total Duration: Approximately 40 minutes
Recording Locations: Istanbul (Turkey) and Stockholm (Sweden)
Production Approach: Collaborative long-distance creation with instrumental music developed first, vocals and lyrics added later
Album Concept: Blend of Turkish melancholy, Scandinavian atmosphere, and electronic production
Band Description: “Electroacoustic” fusion combining minimal instrumentation with atmospheric production
Band Members/Personnel
Selen Hünerli - Vocals, lyrics
Deniz Cuylan - Guitars, bass guitar, electronics, production
Hakan Vreskala - Percussion, ethnic percussion instruments
Ali Rıza Şahenk - Guest artist on live electronics (for live performances)
Album Production Notes
Written by Selen Hünerli, Deniz Cuylan, and Hakan Vreskala
Arranged by Deniz Cuylan and Hakan Vreskala
Band members living in different countries during recording (Istanbul, Stockholm, and various locations)
Nine-track debut combining English lyrics with Eastern and Northern musical influences
Released on CD format in Turkey through independent label Akkiraz Müzik
Album title Infinite Face reflects the multiple cultural and musical perspectives informing the music
Interesting Facts About “Remedy”
The Royal Swedish Academy Connection
Hakan Vreskala’s journey to Sweden fundamentally shaped Norrda’s sound. In 2001, he was accepted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm, one of Scandinavia’s most prestigious music institutions. This move introduced him to new musical traditions and connected him with artists across genres. During his time in Sweden, he performed and toured with renowned musicians including Kurdish singer Ciwan Perver, Indian-American vocalist Aida Nadeem, Macedonian saxophone virtuoso Ferus Mustafov, and Swedish musician Lars Demian.
These experiences with master musicians from diverse traditions informed his approach to percussion in Norrda. Rather than simply playing “ethnic” instruments in conventional ways, he incorporated techniques and rhythmic concepts from Turkish, Balkan, and Scandinavian music into a cohesive personal style. The “northern breeze” that band descriptions often mention - the melancholic atmosphere and spacious production - owes much to Vreskala’s years immersed in Swedish musical culture, where minimalism and emotional restraint often take precedence over density and volume.
Vreskala’s Swedish residency also provided the band’s name and conceptual framework. “Norrda” suggested not just a geographic direction but a musical philosophy: music that embraced coolness and distance rather than warmth and immediacy, creating space for listeners to project their own emotions into the songs.
From Thrash Metal to Melancholic Electronica
Before his classical percussion studies in Sweden, Vreskala founded and played drums in a thrash metal band during his school years in Turkey. This seemingly contradictory background - from aggressive thrash metal to delicate electroacoustic music - actually informed his work in Norrda. Thrash metal demands technical precision, complex time signatures, and the ability to maintain intensity over extended periods. These skills translated into Norrda’s music as rhythmic sophistication and dynamic control, even when playing at much slower tempos and lower volumes.
This versatility extended across the entire band. Selen Hünerli had started in R&B, soul, and hip-hop with her first band Bitter before moving toward experimental and psychedelic music. Deniz Cuylan had worked across genres from groovy electronica to jazz, producing everything from fashion show soundtracks to film scores. Their diverse backgrounds meant Norrda never felt constrained by genre expectations. “Remedy” and the rest of Infinite Face draw equally from trip-hop, ambient music, Turkish folk traditions, and indie rock without obviously copying any of them.
After Infinite Face, the band’s members continued their separate musical journeys. Between 2007 and their second album Sonu Yok in 2016, Hünerli worked with the electronic psychedelic band Nada and performed as MC in the Re-Spectralize project. She also formed the protest group Kızçeler during the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations. Cuylan released albums with Portecho, Great Republic Of South, and Sundowner. Vreskala became a singer, released two solo albums, founded his own record label Kayıtdışı Records, worked as a music teacher, and even became a boxing coach. Despite these divergent paths, they reunited nearly a decade later, proving that the musical connection established on “Remedy” and Infinite Face remained strong enough to overcome both distance and time.
Common Questions
Q: What does “Norrda” mean and why did the band choose this name? A: “Norrda” comes from the Swedish word “nor,” meaning “north.” The band chose this name because member Hakan Vreskala lived in Stockholm after studying at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The “north” also references the melancholic, spacious atmosphere of Scandinavian music that influenced their sound, blending with Turkish and Middle Eastern elements to create their unique electroacoustic fusion.
Q: What genre is Norrda’s music? A: Norrda describes their music as “electroacoustic.” The sound combines minimal instrumentation (vocals, guitar, percussion) with electronic production, blending Turkish melancholy, Scandinavian atmospheric qualities, and Western indie sensibilities. Their music incorporates elements of downtempo, world fusion, trip-hop, and ambient music while remaining difficult to categorize within any single genre.
Q: How did Norrda create music while living in different countries? A: Deniz Cuylan and Hakan Vreskala would develop instrumental compositions first, with Vreskala working from Sweden and Cuylan from Istanbul. Selen Hünerli would then write lyrics and melodies over the completed music. This process allowed them to work asynchronously across time zones, though it meant long gaps between releases - nine years separated their first and second albums.
Q: What happened to Norrda after their first album? A: After Infinite Face in 2007, the band members pursued separate projects for nine years. They reunited for their second album Sonu Yok in 2016, which featured Turkish lyrics instead of English. The band gave their first concert after the long break at Bant Mag’s 10th anniversary party in late 2014, where they premiered songs from the new album.
Q: Who are the members of Norrda and what are their backgrounds? A: Selen Hünerli (vocals) started in R&B and soul with the band Bitter before studying cinema and working with electronic psychedelic music. Deniz Cuylan (guitar, electronics) is known for his work with Portecho and Maya, producing music for film, TV, and fashion shows. Hakan Vreskala (percussion) studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm and has toured with musicians including Ciwan Perver and Ferus Mustafov.
The geographic dispersal as creative constraint angle is fascinating. Most collaboration narratives focus on proximity breeding innovation, but Norrda's distance actualy forced them into asynchronous workflows that shaped the music's spaciousness. The three-continent triangle (Istanbul-Stockholm-wherever Hünerli was) created natural gaps that became aesthetic choices rather than logistical problems. I've worked with remote music production teams before, and the challenge is always maintaining emotional coherence when youre building tracks in isolation. The fact they leaned into restraint instead of trying to fill every sonic gap shows real discipline, especially coming from thrash metal and R&B backgrounds where density is usually the default.