Naaljos Ljom

I like my Norwegian folk music with an earthy, gritty, dirt under the fingernails sort of sound. I wasn't expecting this from duo Naaljos Ljom but, as I listened, I was transported to secluded valleys where age-old traditions are the passionate expressions of a community, here re-energised by the chillingly sensitive electronic wizardry of Anders Hana and Morten Joh. The pair bring their own experience of much-lauded noise bands MoHa! and Ultralyd along with understanding and curiosity. They add fiddle, jaw harp, and the zither-like langeleik (whose sounds are buffeted from sitar to micro-tonal guitar) to their extensive sound palette, for foot-tapping dance tunes, hymns and ballads. Olav Christer ‘Laffen’ Rossebø guests on fiddle alongside singer Kenneth Lien, reminding us of the treasure-trove of traditional singers in the Norwegian folk archives.

The album belongs to the series Perspectives on Norwegian Folk Music. Brilliantly thought through, it celebrates the excellent and extensive folk archives, which continue to inspire many contemporary musicians. Back in the 1920s and 30s, composer, performer and radio producer Eivind Groven was intrigued by microtonality in Norwegian folk traditions; Naaljos Ljom have taken his thoughts and spun them into a new dimension, making for some deeply compelling listening.