Label: TUTL
Review by Alessandra Cognetta
After her successful release in early 2015, “Bridges”, Eivør is back with what has been defined a sister album to its predecessor, “Slør”. The main peculiarity of this album, besides the trademark style of the Faroese artist, is that it is sung completely in her mother language, Faroese. Eivør blends with ease folk, electronic and pop, giving this album a darker, more mysterious tone compared to her previous releases. The album opens with the soft tunes of “Silvitni”, “calm”. Its ethereal theme accompanies us throughout the whole track, with the minimal interference of backing vocals: Eivør has the scene. “Brotin”’s (“Broken”) beat disrupts the quiet atmosphere and gets everything into motion. This time, Eivør’s passionate interpretation is supported by an acoustic guitar, with vocal lines reminiscent of the previous album in the chorus. “Slør” is something new, but it is still able to provide a sense of continuity within Eivør’s work, showing the evolution of her career. A haunting voice brings us to the third track, “Salt”. I found this to be the most mesmerizing track of an already stellar album, due to its peculiar, experimental beat combined with folk-inspired vocals and an accent of strings. Eivør‘s voice does the rest and we are left with a song that will easily get stuck in our heads (and our playlists). This is one of the few songs of the album for which Eivør did not write the lyrics, drawing instead upon Marjun S. Kjelnæs’s poetry. The “fog banks” of “Mjørkaflókar” are introduced next, with Eivør singing basically a cappella for the first minute or so. The one thing that stands out from the album as a whole is that even though most people will not be able to grasp the meaning of the lyrics, the overall feeling of the songs is still masterfully conveyed by Eivør’s voice alone, which breaks all barriers. “Slør” is an experimental album, but this time perhaps more on the instrumental side rather than the vocal one. The daring vocalizations from “Bridges” and some of the earlier albums are rarer, in favor of a bigger diversity in terms of use of instruments, moods and beats. “Petti Fyri Petti”, (“Piece by Piece”), is one of the many expressions of Eivør’s ability to create an intimate setting with just a few instruments: in this case her voice, a guitar and humming. It is astounding how simple yet effective such a combination proves to be in the right hands. “Slør” also provides a sense of authenticity, of being right there and then when the album was recorded. “Røttu Skógvarnir” does exactly that, with Eivør‘s heel setting the tempo for the rest of the song and being cleverly mixed into a more complicated tune. As a matter of fact, the song title is appropriately translated into “The Right Shoes”. We are back to what could be described as a more ‘visceral’ sound with “Í Tokuni”, “In the Mist”. It feels as if everything was designed starting from Eivør’s voice, as she shifts from dark, almost ominous whispers to open vocalizations, blending folk vocal styles with cleverly placed keyboard accents. “Verđ Mín” (“Be Mine/My World”) borrows once again from Marjun S. Kjelnæs and provides one of the catchiest choruses of the album. It is followed by the title track, “Veil”, a song that fittingly feels in-between two dimensions. The feeling of fascination created by the Faroese language is able to add a deeper meaning within the songs. A re-recording of one of her classics, “Trøllabundin” (“Spellbound”), brings this journey in the far north to a close. The song fits perfectly with the overall atmosphere of “Slør” and, in this form, it could be easily brought as an example of Eivør‘s ability to blend styles in her own, peculiar way to new listeners. The arrangement has been changed just slightly, to accommodate the style of the album and to provide a new take on an already great song. Her versatile voice and the pressing rhythm of the drums work together perfectly and bring to a conclusion what is rightfully one of the most interesting and well-crafted albums of the year. A must for fans and for those who enjoy discovering new music, “Slør” is an album you definitely do not want to miss.
Rating – 89/100
Tracklist
- Silvitni
- Brotin
- Salt
- Mjørkaflókar
- Petti Fyri Petti
- Røttu Skógvarnir
- Í Tokuni
- Verð Mín
- Slør
- Trøllabundin
Line Up
- Eivør – Vocals, guitars, hand drum
- Tróndur Bogason – Keyboards, piano, editing
- Høgni Lisberg – Beat production, backing vocals
- Mikael Blak – Bass, keys, guitars, vocoder
- Hallur Johnsson – Synths, programming, editing
- Angelika Nielsen – Violin, viola
Links