Music that is loosely tagged as ‘Nordic-Folk’ has become quite the sprawling sub-genre and due to the rise in popularity of bands such as Heilung and Wardruna gained far more interest over recent years. Here we have the eleventh album by Eivør Pálsdóttir and it is a good place to get an insight into quite how diverse the stylistic leanings of this type of music can be due to the fact that incorporates plenty of other facets within its traditional roots. Originally from the Faroe Islands but now spending plenty of time in Denmark Eivør grew up in a small town and has no doubt had to confront “the struggles between the Earth and humans” in her formative years. This is the general theme of the album but with tracks such as ‘Gaia’ here referencing the earth mother I felt on somewhat safer ground than with others from these Islands. One gets the impression that the vocalist is more likely to row out to the middle of the ocean and harmonise with the whales rather than be involved in the slaughter of them.
It’s not just Eivør responsible for the songs here, she decamped to a very sheltered location of around 50 inhabitants to record this material with her partner, the classical composer Tróndur Bogason. The Faroese lyrics were penned by Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs and there are no shortage of musicians on board from the expected to accompanying strings such as violins, viola, cello and vocal choralists. Despite this Enne is an album employing a minimalist approach during most of the eight songs on offer.
Illustrating how broad things can be we start with ‘Ein Klóta’ which is neo-classical in approach with simple piano arrangement as melody and dulcet vocal tones. It’s gentle and relaxing prior to ‘Jarðartrá’ the Earth Tree taking us into the realms of electronica via a steady pulsating synthesised heart-beat, subtle strings and enchantment seeping out via melody and vocals. ‘Hugsi Bert Um Teg’ flirts with Euro-Pop sensibilities and has more energy about it via the chorus line, whereas the Purple Heart of ‘Purpurhjarta’ is a haunting piano sonata reminiscent of the works of Claude Debussy as much as anything more contemporary.
Those expecting the more filmic approach Eivør adopted for soundtracks such as ‘The Last Kingdom’ will find ground on the title track which may well be more in line-with what expects from the Nordic-Folk tag but equally there are plenty more ideas here at the heart of things. Dream-pop is another as things gently ebb and flow, the one main problem you are likely to encounter here is unless you focus it all becomes a little background muzak, ideal maybe for dinner parties but a bit on the soporific side for anything more energetic. Still this does mean that when we get a burst of guitar on penultimate number ‘Upp Úr Øskuni’ it is at least effective. On the whole one probably won’t be able to listen to this without at least fleeting thoughts of musical artists such as Enya and if you like dreamy atmospheres and serene tones you may well engage with and enjoy chilling out with the album.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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