Photo: Steffen Normark
Velcro Dog is the solo project of Norwegian musician and songwriter Tony Gonzalez (Barren Womb, Oma Desala, Twin Serpent). Born from an incessant need to deal with both old and new ghosts, Velcro Dog creeps along the darkest corners of the folk, Americana and country traditions, carving out a sound that may perhaps best be labelled as fjord noir.
What could be more fitting then than simply naming the sophomore album Fjord Noir? Similar to 2022 debut Misanthropology, the backbone of Velcro Dog is still sad songs about love, death and depression, but the abyss has grown a lot deeper and bleaker this time around. The material for Fjord Noir came about during a two-year period marred by decaying mental health and paints a fragmented picture of life inside a black cloud where escapism, doubt and resignation run rampant. But there’s more than navel-gazing introspection at work here: Gonzalez also invites the listener to get to know some of the fates around him and has even penned a love letter to his hometown of Trondheim.
Released on September 3 2026, single ‘I’ll Stick to Fiction’ is centred on a world that has become bleaker than even our most dystopian of fever dreams. Corruption runs rampant, everything is burning and all critical thresholds are soon to be transgressed. Fiction can be a sturdy shelter from such grim realities, a cosy mausoleum where we can live happily never after. ‘I’ll Stick to Fiction’ is an ode to this specific type of self-delusion. Musically, the track mimics humanity’s trajectory, building from humble beginnings to a violent crescendo before finally fizzling out to nothing, a drama underscored by Live Sunniva Smidt’s clever, cinematic cello arrangement.
Velcro Dog comments:
“In order to write, I need darkness. Luckily, the slow-motion apocalypse we currently live in provides ample material to pull from. It’s a grim reality I can barely handle, a wall-to-wall-shit-carpet of inequality, death and decay. Therefore, I also write to get away from this brutish hellscape. ‘I’ll Stick to Fiction’ is about this strange paradox.”
Fjord Noir releases September 18 via Westergaard Records and can be pre-ordered here and here on Bandcamp.
See Velcro Dog in Norway:
- 10.09.26 NO Trondheim, Crispin Glover Record Shop (in-store)
- 02.10.26 NO Bodø, Kom heim
- 03.10.26 NO Tromsø, Backbeat (in-store)
- 03.10.26 NO Tromsø, Bastard
- 09.10.26 NO Ringebu, Arnemoen Gard
- 10.10.26 NO Trondheim, Antikvariatet
- 15.10.26 NO Røros, Ungdommens Hus
- 16.10.26 NO Tønsberg, Nidhoggs brønn
- 17.10.26 NO Oslo, Salt
- 13.11.26 NO Evanger, Rongahuset
- 14.11.26 NO Bergen, Rocade (in-store)
- 14.11.26 NO Bergen, Kolonialen
- 20.11.26 NO Lindesnes, Lindesnes fyr
- 21.11.26 NO Kristiansand, Kafé Krank
- 13.12.26 NO Lesja, Lesja Bygdemuseum
