Wardruna are a project that exist in my peripheral vision. On a quick search through my Plex account on my phone I have just one album Runaljod- Yggdrasil and I have a vague recollection of enjoying it but evidently not enough to revisit in the last 11 years.
Am I the right person to review this, the latest from vocalist and bone flautist Lindy Fay Hella and Dei Farne a Norwegian Prog trio made up of Roy Ole Førland, Ingolf Hella Torgersen and Sondre Veland? Well yes I suppose I am as there is not a lot of prejudice here (George Michael would be pleased) and having not heard the previous collab 2021’s Hildring I have no real expectations.
Lindy-Fay’s voice is beautiful – at once soft and lilting but still commanding and powerful. With this project the musicians combine the expected folk elements with dark pop and some ambient sounds to make a captivating, eerie and ethereal blend.
There is nothing “metal” about this album – don’t go looking for big nasty riffs and crashing drums to counterbalance the beatific vocals. If you want that both Emma Ruth Rundle and Chelsea Wolfe have released collabs that will hit that spot.
To describe the genres within this album is a little churlish. It is at once a joyous folksy trip in the sun and a synth laden dark trudge down a back alley. The opener Sintra is reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s work on the Dune films – spice laden winds seem to caress the mournful vocals and I expect to see Fremen lurching out of the desert to thrust blades at my bald and pale figure (such injustice done to my look a likes).
As I listen I reach into my musical mind palace to look for comparisons and the first thing that comes to mind is Icelandic singer Emilliana Torrini who I was lucky enough to see live in Norwich over a decade ago. Just like Torrini, Lindy-Fay blends elements of folk, trip hop and electronica to sculpt emotional but highly enjoyable and yes, accessible music.
The tribal style drums that carry the heartbeat of “Dark Water” fill me with energy and hope whilst the synths and Hammond organ that forms the backing gives a mystical air and a feeling of wide open space. It feels like being immersed in one of the sound baths I see advertised in a Vegan cafe I nip to sometimes.
It’s sister song – “Low Water” that follows later in the album is just as alluring. It incorporates stings and I am reminded of Thunder and Consolation era New Model Army and my mind wanders to beach-side fires and feelings of freedom from modern world and all its shite. The introduction of pulsing synths does nothing to break this illusion, just gives it a slight neon glow. I reckon that futuristic tinge is a hangover from “Whisper” which precedes it stuffed with Depeche Mode vibes from their Memento Mori album of last year and some wonderous multi track vocals and electro hand clap style drums that come straight out of my 80’s music collection.
There are tracks on Islet of such airy lightness that they are at risk of floating off in a soft breeze. Thank the maker (lil Star Wars ref) that they don’t as we could do with as much ethereal levity as possible at the moment. “Slowly the Light Dies Out” is a soufflé of melancholy awash with tinkling bells and haunting voices whilst “Like the Star” echoes like the fading light of a long dead constellation before folky New Age drums defibrillate and take it home. I can even look past the similarities I find between the delightful yodel style vocal of “Furmas” and the Brian Blessed “Flash” TV ad. This church organ led track is an aural dichotomy – it brings to mind both the descent of a coffin into a lower chamber for cremation and the release of a soul to a better life – and for an old atheist like me to conjure those images it must be doing something right.
When an album succeeds in creating so many different moods and feelings it could be seen as crass to pick a stand out or favourite track, However I will.
“Don’t Do Right” is dark and brooding – hints of recent Numan especially the drums and the backing synths but with a quirky danceable rhythm that brings to mind Stevie Nicks at her most playful. This is a track to play loud in a candlelit room wearing something full and flowing (careful of fire kids) and let yourself go.
If “Sintra” was the opening titles for Islet then “The Fluttering Sail” is it’s cinematic swansong. I cannot help but picture Zendaya and Chalomet on the aptly named planet The heartbeat slows and stops……………………….
What a wonderful album. A trip to another place and a chance to reflect and immerse yourself in beauty and wonder. Thankyou.
(9/10 Matt Mason)
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