Yes, I suppose many of them are right now, especially in Venice and Spain where the natives are revolting over a perceived invasion, especially by the British.
Tone of Voice Orchestra’s line-up includes four female vocalists; a Hurdy‑gurdy; bagpipes; cittern (I read that as cistern at first, not sure how you’d play that); violin; saxophones; flutes; double bass and two drummers. 10 contributors in all.
Polyphonic Spree meets Portsmouth Sinfonia I suppose although I guarantee they play their instruments much better than the latter!
They released a self-titled debut album in 2022 and now here comes ‘Tourist at God’s Mercy’, the first offering and lead single from their new album.
The introduction came from Trinelise Væring, a founder of the band along with jazz saxophonist Fredrik Lundin. Hers is a name I recognised straight away as she was here in NMC at the beginning of the year with an alt-country song, ‘I hope he cancels’.
Tone of Voice Orchestra considers itself to be genre benders, to use their own words, “a borderless expedition: a burst of Rio’s carnival spirit, a piper’s summit in coastal Brittany, a clearing in the Scandinavian woods.”
The subject matter of the song is intriguing. It references those tourists that claim to have ‘done’ Europe in a week. Like Debbie did Dallas, I guess.
I’m assuming these tourists are American. Or Chinese. Perhaps Japanese. Those on the whistle-stop tour. It’s Tuesday, this must be England.
When I lived in London I had some fun with those folk. I remember one American guy sat at the front of a bus on the top deck with his wife. Elmer from Boise, Idaho. As the bus wheeled left into Oxford Street from Regent Street at Oxford Circus, he exclaimed loudly “there are more people here than in New York!!” stood bolt upright and knocked himself out on the roof.
Or the guy at Euston Station who clambered aboard a train to Manchester and demanded “is this train going to Cree-wee?” Nobody spoke so I ventured “no…but it is going to Crewe” (an important junction station in northwest England). He looked at me, utterly bemused, and got off.
But I digress.
This image of getting the feel for a place by spending a few minutes there gawping at a statue or monument is contrasted with how we try to get a grasp of what life and love is really about, while we still find ourselves fumbling in the dark. Tell me about it.
The song takes the format of a tour of the world which begins with the Rio Carnival and a Samba rhythm on the snare drum and gets stuck there, apart from a side excursion to the Pyramids. I actually got an image in my head of Trump jumping off AF1 at Windsor today and dancing along a red carpet to meet King Charlie Boy; that worked quite well!
Or even an Orange March in Belfast. It is a beguiling sound that can be appended to whatever you like.
Then the voices come in. They speak in unison as if to emphasise that everyone is driven by the same motive – to get the T-shirt and the souvenirs but to learn nothing of substance about a place.
It’s a well thought out piece, highly melodic and provocative while remaining passive. It has something of Fleetwood Mac about it. I’m thinking mainly of ‘Tusk’.
On November 7th, 2025 the group will release the album ‘Running from the Devil.’
Find them on:
Website: https://fredriklundin.com/tone-of-voice-orchestra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tone_of_voice_orchestra/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToneofVoiceOrchestra
Bandcamp: https://toneofvoiceorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/running-from-the-devil
Photo by Karin Rørbech.
