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Written in fRoots issue 316, 2009
 

VALRAVN
Koder På Snor
Westpark 87180

Valravn is Faroese singer Anna Katrin Egilstrød, Danes Martin Seeberg on viola, flutes and jew’s harps, Søren Hammerlund with hurdy-gurdy, mandola, nyckelharpa and samples, Swiss/Ecuadorian percussionist Juan Pino, and producer Christopher Juul’s keyboards, sound manipulation and live electronics
      For their eponymous first album, enthusiastically reviewed in fR 299, they wrapped Danish, Faroese and Icelandic songs and some originals in powerful, wild grooves and textures that sometimes, in a good, moving-things-on way, reminded of Sweden/Finland’s Hedningarna. The live show is mighty impressive, too; Egilstrød is a magnificent vocalist, caressing, whispering and howling the songs with magnetic command and energy, and the band has just the right balance of live instruments and intensifying electronics, with strong visuals often including, er, a giant raven.
      In sound, energy and inventiveness the new album is as strong as the debut. In comparison with its predecessor, though, it seems to be shaped by sounds and episodes rather than melodies. Perhaps it’s because all the tracks this time, while still using influences and melodic ideas from tradition, are attributed as band-composed. A natural enough progression, and I don’t mean they should just stick to ‘trad. arr.’, but the age-old cussedness of traditional melodies makes them the grit in the pearl; they’re what the present-day musician is strangely enthused by and has to come to terms with and interpret. It’s hard to stand outside oneself musically to new-make those kernels of grit with unexpected shapes for which one tries to find interesting and ingenious ways to make fit.
      (Actually, that raises a possibly interesting thought – that whereas musicians in a tradition are often working with the old and familiar, it’s often the alien-ness of the traditional material that thrills and challenges present day musicians rediscovering folk musics.)
      Of course, as a non Danish speaker it’s the melodies and sound one hears rather than the beauty or relevance of the lyrics they carry. These are new songs, drawing on traditional idioms rather than the western pop mainstream, from a Danish band that doesn’t sound like any other and is a match for playing the biggest gigs and for trouncing pop and rock bands that are nothing like as interesting, colourful or individual. It’s a fine, exciting CD in its own right, and strongly recommended as one of the year’s most striking releases in a Danish roots scene that’s now really delivering and diversifying.

      www.westparkmusic.eu, www.valravn.net, www.myspace.com/valravn


© 2009 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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