Årsringar

Ellinor & Leonor are a traditional music duo who met in Gothenburg, Sweden, and released their debut album five years ago. Tough Leonor Palazzo is a cellist from Belgium, it is to Ellinor Fritz's home province of Dalarna – the heartland of Sweden both geographically and spiritually – that they have turned for their music.

This second album is called Årsringar, meaning ‘Growth Rings’ in English, which not only roots their music in the pastoral setting of the Swedish countryside and forest, but also connotes the organic layering of influences that create a folk music tradition. On this album, they interpret tunes from 18th- and 19th-century collections as well as others they have learned from contemporary Swedish folk fiddlers.

There are polskas, polonaises, a lively hagervals and a wedding march. The tunes run from the reflective (‘Uggelbovalsen’) to the upbeat (‘Schottis Efter August Medin ‘Necken’’). The compositions have a purity of sound achieved through the simple interplay of just two instruments – Fritz's fiddle and Palazzo's five-string cello. As the Carl Larsson-esque photograph on the album cover suggests, with its pared-back parlour scene, this is honest, unadorned Swedish dance music tapping into a long tradition.