I've been thinking about folk music this morning on the train to work. It seems to have a timeless quality that other music genres (except for the Blues) lack. Rock and Roll, Glam, Punk, Rave they are all of a time whereas folk music is less about "now" - and more about "then" and has thus eluded the fickleness of music fashion. These thoughts occurred to me whilst I was reading a Bjork quote about Olof Arnalds (“[her voice is]...somewhere between a child and an old woman") and it seemed to be an allegory for folk music itself. Olof is a classically trained Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist (aren't they all?) and also the cousin of much-acclaimed composer Olafur Arnalds as featured on this blog a few months back here.
She released an album 'Innundir Skinni' last year and this was what I was listening to on the train this morning as I mused on things. It's taken quite a few listens for this album to get under my skin but it's been worthwhile and I'm glad I stuck at it. The album itself is a simple affair with most songs being Olof's voice alongside a minimal guitar accompaniment. She has been championed by her fellow Icelander, Bjork, who pops up in one of the few English language songs 'Surrender'. It's interesting that even when Bjork does backing vocals her voice is so strong that it threatens to be the alpha voice. Not in this case, Olof's voice is less idiosyncratic, more feminine, more mainstream but is more than up to the task of taking the lead here.
As I say, there's one or two English language songs: ' Jonathan' sounds a lot like a traditional English folk song. It rings a lot of metaphorical bells and its structure is definitely English folk as opposed to the quirky (to my ears) Icelandic language songs. 'Madrid' is a hybrid that works very well - Icelandic lyrics to a Spanish theme. The tune reminds me in part of 'Memories of Alhambra'. There's a lot to explore here and Olof has crafted a wonderful collection of songs.
Overall, the album is quite intimate but lacks a killer song for me. I'm probably doing it a great disservice as I'm not really listening to it as it should be heard - played live to an audience. I do intend to rectify this at the earliest opportunity when Olof tours the UK (please!). The language barrier also prevents me from appreciating the lyrical qualities which no doubt fill this debut album but Olof's voice is a joy to hear even if I don't understand what she's singing about.
This is the title track with accompanying video:
and as a bonus, here is the official video to another song on the album, Crazy Car. (I see that it was uploaded by One Little Indian Records - the Sugarcubes' old record label!)
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