Mean Fiddler Presents Sivert Høyem at CARGO.

"It's kind of a new start for me." says former Madrugada frontman Sivert Höyem about Moon Landing, his enthralling third solo album. "I just feel I have a lot to prove to myself. I wanted the title to tell people something about the ambition I have for this album, this being the first thing I have done since the band broke up."

Madrugada, Norway's most successful rock band ever - give or take a-ha's icy pop - split up following the tragic death of Höyem's bandmate, guitarist Robert Burås, in July 2007, and one last tour in 2008. "It's been a rough couple of years," admits the singer who completed the group's sixth and final album, fittingly called Madrugada and released in January 2008, with the help of bassist Frode Jacobsen. "We never discussed not finishing it. It just seemed like the only sensible thing to do. Everybody, Robert included, had been very enthusiastic about the album. It would have been a double tragedy if we hadn't finished it," reflects the vocalist. "With songs like Look Away Lucifer, it felt like a fresh new direction. Robert was a real rock and roll guitarist but he also had a very sensitive side to his playing. He had a great ability to squeeze a really haunting melody out of simple chord structures. Valley Of Deception is a great testament to his ability."

The vocalist with the rich, haunting baritone made two solo albums while fronting Madrugada, Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Opposition in 2004 and Exiles in 2006, but Moon Landing is the first one his creative energies have been fully focused on. "I'm starting up as a true solo artist without the twin careers. All the best stuff I could come up with has gone into this one. Before, my solo work was never my first priority. If I had some kind of positive reaction from Frode or Robert to a song I was working on, it always went into Madrugada. Even if it wasn't released, it stayed with the band," he explains. "Mostly the rock tunes and the grand, big, epic stuff made it into Madrugada, and I got to use the folk-inspired, melodic, the cute stuff in my solo work."

Doors open at 7.30pm tickets £10 in advance.