Strømmen

Helene Blum has already achieved phenomenal success in her native Denmark, including a No 1 hit as a folk singer and composer. Alongside the irrepressibly talented composer, fiddle player and fellow Dane, Harald Haugaard, comes a first jointly collaborative album, Strømmen (The Stream). Rich re-imaginings of traditional Danish folk music and poetry from Denmark's most notable literary talents feature among Blum and Haugaard's own work. An expressive journey of lyrical poetry and music, reflecting our own very personal relationships with water, this is an album of sweeping lyricism. ‘Over Havet’, the first track, is tinged with wistful nostalgia before the fourth cut, ‘Boy Under Lime Tree’, enters into a brooding, introverted affair. The purely instrumental ‘Angst’ takes a darker journey before we begin a steady ascent back into brightness, culminating in the penultimate track, ‘En Yndig og Frydefuld Sommertid’ (Summer Beauty and Delight). Lilting Nordic folk melodies surrounded by warm harmonies of Blum and Haugaard's own band create a satisfyingly rewarding textural soundscape. Alongside the surprising harmonic twists that delight and engage in the third track ‘Så Mange Forskellige Hænder’, Strømmen is a subtly progressive and inventive artistic offering. Immersive, poignant and continuously rewarding, this is a must try Nordic folk album for 2021.