Tropikantele

Chilling with a piña colada after a sauna? That might be the vibe as Finland’s national instrument, the kantele, fuses with Caribbean and Latin rhythms and a sprinkling of electronic fairy dust in Tropikantele. The album’s single ‘Oso’ (Bear) starts out with strums on the kantele, but one-man-band Sami Sammalkallio (appearing here under the moniker of Ruttusound) mostly plucks the zither-like instrument in its 35, 36 and 39-string versions, along with playing percussion and drums. His focus is not so much melody as laidback grooves and intriguing experiments in layered, cross-cultural rhythms – think a 2020s exotica update of The Meters’ New Orleans funk or a stripped-down, wordless version of Manu Chao. At times, his kantele sounds like an Okinawan koto or a Malian kora, backed up with handclaps, dubby drum bursts, steel pans and exotic percussion. ‘Picamaderos Negro’ (Black Woodpecker) starts out as shuffling cumbia before moving into downtempo techno, then something more psychedelic and dubwise. All the while, Sammalkallio manages to steer clear of gimmickry. While there’s nothing profound or ground-breaking in Tropikantele, tracks like ‘Doninha’ (Weasel) with its tasty drum break would make a cheerful addition to any summer playlist. And don’t miss the video for ‘Oso’, with fabulous archival footage of breakdancers at a Karelian wedding in 1921.