A new Norwegian folk label, Krets, arrives with an arresting debut release – an “anarchistic” set of songs, dances, ballads and psalms from the rugged south-western county of Rogaland.
Malmin, a duo of experimental musician Anders Hana and folk-rock and cajun-pop instrumentalist Olav Christer Rossebø, write in their album’s liner notes of the Rogaland elders whose performance style inspired them, and how “their hunt to resonate with the depth of the human soul spared no means”. Fittingly, these nine tracks largely sound like deliciously diabolical spells. Some are scraped on eight-string harding fiddles, others plucked or picked on mouth-harps, microtonal mandolins and guitars, where extra frets help the musicians play the tones between semitones. All are sourced from early-to-mid 20th-century recordings, and range from feverish dances such as Hallingkule (where repeated cyclical patterns sound ferocious between the bow’s horsehair and the strings’ steel) and the uncanny shimmer of Vinjavalsen (played on the langeleik, a zither with one string for the melody and eight for drones).
Åshild Vetrhus, whose specialism is funeral dirge singing, is a striking presence on several tracks – sometimes standing out, at other moments meshing into the mix, but always veering masterfully between styles. On the opening medley, she sounds plain, punchy and perfect; on Grønn Står Skogen (The Forest Is Green), a sense of yearning swells along with her breaths; on the last two tracks, both based on religious texts, she’s humble and heartfelt. Still, there are never any concessions to comfort, and Malmin wonder playfully on the liner notes how this set will fit into a world fixated by mood music. I’d say jarringly so, and all the better for it.
Also out this month
Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver’s Hinterland (Ear to the Ground Music) is the first properly collaborative album between the real-life couple, beautifully ducking and diving between love songs, bird songs, spoken-word miniatures (Train Song) and John Barry-dusted murder ballads (Long Lankin). Knapp’s high vocals are also at their heartbreaking best on The Lass of Aughrim, the album’s stunning finale.
Jim Ghedi’s Wasteland (Basin Rock) is a full-throttle concept album of traditional songs, ballads and originals soundtracking a narrative of dystopian collapse, but the swaggering sonics often distract from the storytelling. The Seasons works best, where Ghedi’s falsetto-flecked, gravelly Sheffield burr is joined simply but very powerfully by Cinder Well’s Amelia Baker, Landless’ Ruth Clinton and Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada.
The latter also features on A Collection of Slow Airs by Some Very Fine Fiddlers, from the always brilliant Irish label Nyahh Records – a great compilation of melancholy and meditative instrumentals.
