Uplifting, soothing, and fundamentally Scandinavian are some immediate thoughts upon listening to Valkea’s recent brassy, rocky, ballad-like record ‘Vedenjakaja’.
Landscapes of their native land of Finland fill songs to the brim, as the dynamics shift, as synths, brass, guitars, drums and bass collide, a multitude of weapons at their disposal.
Several voices emerge over the tracks, sometimes together, at other times switched between in almost playful gesture to one another, some hitting the bullseye rather wondrously.
The Finnish tongue is such a unique brew it both mystifies and mesmerises in equal measure, a tonic for the times, a question unanswered to those who cannot enter into its realm of meaning.
Opener ‘Vastarannalla’ displays the band’s strengths, the sweet female vocals bursting in like a fresh ray of sunshine in the morning, something rejuvenating therein, the mellow male vocals preceding and following her pinning the song down, spinning with the other elements of sound here as the song builds, soars, dips, visits pop and retreats into rock and other genres.
Assured, sometimes safe, sometimes risking it all through a simple shift in a song, Valkea wears its heart on its sleeves, slipping into the consciousness, inviting questions, inspiring contemplation.
When the band move away from the more radio-friendly elements they dip in and out of, it becomes noticeable they are immediately more substantial, the highlights the brass and exploratory side of the band coming to the fore.
The flurries of effects on the vocals on ‘Errakkorapu’, the playfulness there, is a symbol of a band with a plethora of ideas. The band is clearly at its absolute best when its forays into braver, more adventurous turf enable them to strike a resonance with their abilities and ideas.
The beginning of ‘Viimeinen Syksy’ dives into an electronic pool that fits the band and its sound well. The female vocals are fire, inviting one into a pulsating nightclub atmosphere, the band at its best in this new previously unfamiliar terrain of the record. The balance between commercial and experimental is seemingly utopic here.
Reinventing the musical wheel is something accomplished by the few, and while this does not do that, it does roll splendidly, a sonic invitation to experience the band’s native Nordic land. If it doesn’t make you want to visit Finland, be surrounded by its beauty, and learn some Finnish, then nothing will.
(Continues after the Spotify link).
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(This is the first review by our new contributor Dominic J Stevenson)
