More Hibernian/Scandinavian fusion from two of the finest exponents of the genre. How To Raise The Wind contains seven original compositions, atmospheric pieces, all. The title comes from an old story told by fishermen in north-west Scotland, involving knots tied in in strand of wool and that’s explained in the notes. Supporting artists are Seonaid Aitken, Patsy Reid, Katrina Lee and Sonia Cromarty, forming a string quartet and Rikard Toften Holst on double bass. Sarah-Jane does some extraordinary things with her fiddle and Juhani adds electronics to his guitars.
The opening track, ‘Trolls Resent A Disturbance’, is like a sprinter coming out of the blocks with all the tricks they can muster. If you can imagine what a composition with that title sounds like, you’re absolutely right. ‘Polkadots & Moonshine’ is rather more conventional, beginning as a fiddle tune and ending with an electric guitar workout. It’s one of the longer tracks, coming in at almost eight minutes.
Sarah-Jane and Juhani cast convention to the winds now with ‘Visitor From The Sea’ full of strange effects and plucked fiddle. Listen in a darkened room with just a lava lamp (wacky baccy is optional) for the full effect. Stay right there for ‘The Enchanted Sons Of Kings’, a mournful piece that starts with electric guitar and goes where it will. Much of it sounds improvised and that may be true to a certain extent but I’m sure it was all carefully planned.
I expected ‘Let Me Stay Till I Dance This Reel’ to be a conventional dance tune and it almost is, providing a real workout for the band with lots of work for Rikard and Sonia to do while the fiddle soars above them. At the heart of ‘The Coriolis Effect’ is Juhani’s acoustic guitar but Sarah-Jane muscles in and takes over but sharing with the quartet. Finally, ‘Psalm (How To Raise The Wind)’ is the album’s longest track at over ten minutes. It begins with a mournful solo fiddle that sounds almost like pipes, then double bass comes in. At about three minutes the mood changes with keening violin and electronica – I’m not sure how they are doing it. At around six minutes or so the sound becomes denser and if you told me they were imitating whale song, I would have to believe you.
How To Raise The Wind is a quite extraordinary album – expect the unexpected.
Dai Jeffries
Artists’ website: www.sarahjanejuhani.com
‘Trolls Resent A Disturbance’ – live:
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