Turas

Now this is interesting. A collaboration between Swedish multi-instrumentalist Marit Fält and Oban-born fiddler Rona Wilkie, BBC Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2012, this album is a bold conversation between Scandinavian and Scottish traditional music. In both Swedish and Gaelic, Turas means ‘To Take Turns’ and that is precisely what the duo do – often incorporating tunes from their indigenous cultures into the same song, alongside Québécois reels, Appalachian melodies and new original pieces. The boldest example is ‘Bodach’, in which the two languages and styles meet head-on in a piece which in places recalls the experimental work of Björk or Kate Bush, and which illustrates that this is not just an exploration of similarities, but a celebration of differences too. The mood is often reflective. The wind whips through ‘Psalm 107’, while ‘Seo A'Bhliadhna’ and ‘Kilmartin Glen Campsite’ are spare and beautiful, and the ‘The Reels’ and ‘Tobar Tobar’ are sprightly. Throughout the playing is superb, crisp and clear, Wilkie's voice and fiddle merging with Fält's Nordic mandola, cittern, piano and percussion to create a uniquely compelling sound.