Reviews

Stubb

Gangar

“This is Norwegian folk music… WITH AC/DC CHORDS!” Gangar’s Hardanger fiddle player Mattias Thedens bellowed out in a tiny hotel...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Maelström

Azmari

Named for Ethiopia’s travelling musical storytellers, Belgian five-piece Azmari mix global jazz with elements of funk and dub to conjure...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Vainaan Perua: Satavuotinen Sakka

Emilia Lajunen

There’s a fascinating premise behind this new release from Finnish folk violinist Emilia Lajunen, the title of which translates as...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Ultrabelleza

María José Llergo

This first full-length album by Spanish singer-songwriter María José Llergo offers further proof of her versatile reimagining of traditional flamenco,...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Solen Var Bättre Där

Ævestaden

When I reviewed Ævestaden’s 2021 debut album Ingen Mere Gråter in Songlines #176 (April 2022), I described their music as...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

iViV

Oriane Lacaille

When you listen closely to Oriane Lacaille’s music, you inveitably think of Leyla McCalla. The Creole quality of Lacaille’s songs...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Collage

Erlend Apneseth Trio with Maja S K Ratkje

The list of musical genres that Norwegian band Erlend Apneseth Trio tap into for their new album, Collage, could be...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Galargan

The Gentle Good

Cardiff-based songwriter and instrumentalist Gareth Bonello, better known as The Gentle Good, explores the traditional song and folklore of his...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Look Over the Wall, See the Sky

John Francis Flynn

Speaking to Songlines in 2021, Irish folk singer John Francis Flynn described his debut album, I Would Not Live Always,...

Reviewed in issue December/2023

Ao Mar

Ão

‘Ão’ is a specific sound in Portuguese, a real headscratcher for most non-native speakers. Maybe thinking of it as an...

Reviewed in issue December/2023