SÁLA

Dutch performer Kati Rán describes her music as ‘dark Nordic folk’ revealing her deep affinity with Norse mythology. The title means both ‘sea’ and ‘soul’, reflecting the power of the oceans, entwined with Rán’s own relationship with the mythical sea goddess Rán and the goddess’ nine daughters, each named after different types of waves. Across the 13 tracks on SALA Rán unfolds a series of dramatic, atmospheric tableaux using the sounds of nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed fiddle), conch shells and goat horn (played by Norwegian musician and poet Karl Seglem); there are appearances from Napalm Death’s Mitch Harris and metal vocalist Gaahl (frontman of black metal band Gorgoroth), as well as an Icelandic choir, with ocean sounds as the thread that binds everything together. Rán delivers the Norse, Icelandic and even English texts with deep conviction, sometimes in almost whispering understatement, and sometimes with a mysterious edge of darkness as on ‘Blodbylgje’, a cry for the oceans.