Do You Love

Otava Yo are a slightly eccentric Russian folk band from St Petersburg who like to play with the traditions and stereotypes of Russian culture. ‘Oh, Dusya My Marusya’, perhaps the most memorable song on the album, has a video that pokes fun at banya, samovar, and fur hats and features some spectacular locations. It's already had over eight million views on YouTube (though other videos of theirs have over 27 million views). It's the dry humour that I suspect people like. I wish the songs and arrangements were as inventive.

With violin, electric guitars, various pipes and the zither-like gusli, the six-piece play a sort of folk rock – sometimes more folk, as on the opening ‘Once Upon a Time on a High Hill’, and sometimes more rock, as on ‘Guelder-Rose Berries’. They do strong polyphonic vocals, as on the title-track, but often the song structures and repetitive choruses are predictable and therefore dull. It's a shame that the quirky humour of the videos doesn't come through in the music. However, I'm sure they must be fun to see live.