ALBUM REVIEW: Hildring – Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne
Those who have enjoyed LINDY-FAY HELLA’s work in the past will be well aware of her enchanting vocal performance, and will no doubt be chomping at the bit to hear this new collaboration with DEI FARNE on new album Hildring. This fresh dynamic promises a great amount, but does it deliver on expectations?Hildring is a fresh and unusual start, the incredibly grounded instrumentation is almost out of tune with the ethereal tone and naturalistic composition. In the same way, Los has a gentle, old heart to it. The softness of Hella‘s voice and the way the music comes from sounds that could very well be just parts of the world around us is captivating. That grounded sound evolves and becomes something more, filled with so much percussion and wild movement that you are practically carried off in its rhythm. A gentle sense of traditional folk lives within Hildring as a record, and it’s a strong sense of adventure into different facets of what LINDY-FAY HELLA can create with the renewed joy of music with DEI FARNE coming on board.
Kjetto is also a soft and contemplative piece that feels equally dark and welcoming at the same time. It evokes feelings of déjà vu, as though there’s a custom and culture that resonates with your soul, but that you might like to get to know better through this music. It’s not all so weighed down in the bigger ideas of spirit and the universe though, as songs like Taag bring an upbeat, string driven shuffle to the work on offer.
Otherworld is probably a highlight for anyone looking for folk music that incorporates that strange power of the voice in with the ideas of the mystical, of dimensions and expanses so far away from our reality. It’s a fantastic combination of the simple power of synth and the magnetic vocal traditions that make Hella’s work so compelling. The combination of traditional, heritage driven vocals that marry up with expansive and unusual synth sounds works really well on this record, and melds together two worlds that LINDY-FAY HELLA respects and enjoys to great effect. Insect goes in very different directions, bringing in much more of a synthesised sound and relying more on keys, but still holding on to the key component of Hella’s voice. It’s almost completely instrumental, in that the vocals are used more as an accompanying feature to the rest of the instruments rather than a vessel for words.
Likewise, the way the synth stretches like tape in Brising, giving an aged feel to accompany the constant, true drumming allows for a total trance to envelope you. Being chanted into new dimensions, to ages past and future is a hard thing to do, but is deftly handled by LINDY-FAY HELLA & DEI FARNE. The addition of deeper male vocals especially here makes an impact as though moving from one state of mind to another. Finally, Gjelet is definitely the most fitting song for the climax. As you’ve come to feel familiar and comfortable in this record, so does LINDY-FAY HELLA completely come into her own with this mesmerising final track.
Hildring feels so diegetic to the world we live in with its natural instrumentation, while also compelling us to look further and into more mystical, otherworldly territories with its unconventional use of synth. Everything LINDY-FEY HELLA & DEI FARNE have made here is layered with purpose and a dual will to be both in the past and future, meeting in the present to capture your ear and imagination.
Rating: 7/10
Hildring is out now via By Norse.
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