Endeavour

Here are two musicians who wear their hearts on their sleeves and have a charismatic stage presence. LarsEmil Öjeberget plays accordion and Johannes Geworkian Hellman plays hurdy-gurdy. As Symbio they have been a duo for about ten years. Endeavour is their third album and still, they say, they share a curiosity about their music and a deepening joy.

It's the second track on the album that makes my heart sing: ‘Journeys’ is a reminder that this combination of instruments is not only deliciously quirky, but that these two are so in tune with each other that they make captivating music. When the world was closed, this was the tune they made to celebrate the places and people they missed. It's a deeply reflective album as their sleeve notes explain. They explore dark places, the meaning of soulmates, taking risks or facing new directions. Maybe sometimes they sound so beautiful and polished that they lose just a bit of the spark and the rawness that they can also do so well. ‘Arrows of Light’ is a thoughtful combination of reflection and celebration and the final ‘Lucid Dreams’ is a reminder that Symbio is made up of two fantastic instrumentalists.