Erlend Apneseth‘s love of the Hardanger fiddle, Norway’s national instrument, has led him on some spectacular journeys over the years.
2022’s venture Nova found him exploring its evocative sounds on his own, ruminating on its harsh yet reflective tone. For the follow-up Song Over Støv, he has gathered a group of fellow travellers amongst whom are another three Hardanger players as well as another eight instrumentalists, including Mats Eilertsen, Anja Lauvdal, Frode Haltli and Hans Hulbækmo, with other names familiar to regular Freq readers and anybody with their ear to Norway’s fertile musical ground.
Considering how many players are involved, the air is light with the plucked Hardanger surprisingly gentle. It perhaps hints at the promise of more to come, with Henriette Eilertsen‘s fluttering flute lending a pastoral feeling, as if we are lost in the forest but with no concerns. A slight air of mystery pervades, but the plucking of the Hardanger is less wild, like the flute is trying to tame it, leading it on a speculative dance. The sounds are free, but there is a measured tone as if they are biding their time awaiting the perfect moment.
Slow doomy percussion accompanies the fiddles on the title track and their smears turn a little darker; a sense of impending drama, the creaking of an old boat. Here the massed ranks of the assorted players begin to swell, with Anja’s harmonium matching the crazed fairground sounds that begin to grow. It is an impressive slow build, with everybody involved and even a Tom Waitsian sax attack from Rolf-Erik Nystrøm. You could learn to dance to this as glorious, wordless female vocals assail the senses. There is a hint of the pagan, a glimpse of Wicker Man-like ritual that suits the group perfectly. This danceable element continues with “Spring” having a more sensory sound, the flat percussion lending a base to the swirl of strings. The abstract flute breakdown gives an oddly naturalistic air as the piece goes through movements; by now the fiddle is wilder, more obsessive with the sax warmer, the perfect counterpoint. As the album draws to a conclusion, so arrives the comedown with the wheeze of the harmonium accompanying other random textures.On the final track, the fiddle is contemplative again, as if surveying an ancient scene ready to recount the tale in years to come. The interplay is rather warming but dissolves into dreamlike patterns, a drifting soundscape made up of many textures that leave you feeling there is more to be said. Perhaps we will have to wait; but for now, Song Over Støv is a treat that insinuates beautifully.
-Mr Olivetti-
