Ulual YYY, by Islaja (CD on Fonal)

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Fonal Records has received a ridiculous amount of press since Merja Kokkonen’s last album ‘Palaa Aurinkoon’ and was very quickly lumped into a genre all of its very own; ‘Finnish Forest Folk’. It’s fitting then that for her third album, Merja has sidestepped the whole folk genre altogether and come up with an album which is both the ultimate followup to its predecessors and at the same time nothing at all like them. Where ‘Palaa Aurinkoon’ would see Merja plucking her trusty acoustic guitar and rustling amongst the leaves – ‘Ulual Yyy’ sees these elements all but gone, leaving room for her to re-position herself in music and come up with a sound which is both referential and hugely original. It has been said before but it’s worth re-iterating what a unique singing style Merja has; comparable to the outsider talents of Jandek but also strangely soothing her voice carries this record, and although the production is stunning through out it is background noise when you can hone in on her ghostly tones. Accompanied now by synthesizer, Rhodes piano or electric guitar the songs dive straight into the world of 70s psychedelia, with dimly lit smoky rooms intact, but as soon as Merja’s voice utters its first word you are transfixed and transported into another world entirely. Although many of us won’t be able to decipher the Finnish native tongue she sings in, we can still be lulled into this peculiar land, and unlike the Forest Folk we might have been forced to associate the label with, this is at its heart pure rock ‘n roll.

Imagine a Finnish Nico jamming with an electronic incarnation of the Velvet Underground and you might have some idea of where this album should be placed in your record collection. It is both innovative, inventive and devastatingly gorgeous – but it is also a record that requires time and love from the listener. It might not have any instant moments of pure pop, but then that’s not what Islaja is about, these are songs that grow with you, that embed themselves slowly in your psyche and the album is all the better for it. The frozen tundras of Finland have never sounded so undeniably inviting…


Tracklisting: 1) Kutsukaa Sydãnta  2) Sydãnten Ahmija  3) Pete P  4) Laulu jo Menneestá  5) Pysãhtyneet Planeetat  6) Muusimaa  7) Vaýokuvastin  8) Muukralais-Silmã  9) Suru Li.

Other items by Islaja:

Blaze Mountain Recordings by Islaja (CD, £9.79)

Meretie by Islaja (CD, £11.99)

Palaa Aurinkoon by Islaja (CD, £11.99)