Jæ: Balls and Kittens, Draught and Strangling Rain

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Ole Henrick Moe
Martin Taxt
Jan Martin Smørdal
Viljam Nybacka
Kyrre Laastad
Juhani Silvola
Eivind Lønning
Kari Rønnekleiv
Andreas Løwe
Espen Reinertden
Andreas Lønmo Knudsrød
Jessica Sligter (voc, g, melodica, p, fl, reco
Jo Berger Myrhe
Daniel Meyer Grønvold
Håvard Skaset

Label:

Hubro

June/2011

Catalogue Number:

CD2508

RecordDate:

date not given

Dutch-born Oslo-resident Jessica Sligter has previously been involved with a project called The Story of Modern Farming, a collaborative initiative in which she and other musicians navigate bridges between free improv and indie-pop. This solo effort leans more closely towards the pop, highlighting her skills as a singer-songwriter and foregrounding a quirky delicacy that might appeal to fans of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra or Hanne Hukkelberg. At its cutest, it comes perilously close to sounding like a TV advert for a mobile phone package, but there's more going on here than just floppy-haired acoustic cardigan-pop. Sligter's songs share some of the Old European charm of femme-folk singer Josephine Foster, at times haunted lullaby, at others operatic dreamscape. There's also a Scott Walker-like attention to detail in the production, embedding distant cries and dull knocks into the fabric of the songs in ways that catch the ear by surprise. It's a deceptively sophisticated suite of songs.

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