UUTEEN AIKAAN

I'm uncertain if this charming album has as much merits for a global listener as it had for me as a Finn, and also as a person open for the stylistic choices of music and moods of the lyrics. The fragile spiritualism of the album flow with visions of early 80's Finnish post-agricultural sceneries, and led me to a sensational voyage of dreams and memories.

In the beginning of the record, sorrowful, longing voice of late Pia-Maria Noponen echoes from the past preserved on the tapes, full of melancholia contemplating the autumn's sadness, and the readiness to awaken to anticipations of distantly approaching next summer. Subtle keyboard driven intro leads to a more dynamic main theme, resembling Tabula Rasa with nice 70's sounding guitars and beautiful flute melody lines. The vocal harmonies of male and female singers resemble the rhymes of Peter, Paul and Mary, arranged to slightly gospel oriented rock passages. The sadness of early Van Der Graaf Generator recordings was also one association received through the saxophone's presence upon acoustic rock texture.

Mystery of the satin carpets are sown to web of anticipating guitar chords, and revealed after a thunder storm has passed by. Strongly audible soft bass line carries forward this song, which has slight feeling of 60's hippie anthems in the vocal lines and euphorically waving melodies. Ethereal verse longs for the arrival of mythic muse hidden to the heavens and riches of the nature. Later part of the song has curious experimental phase for effect-treated instruments, percussions and flautist's innovation, gaining wind to sails for venturing further to the seas of pathos.

The pleasant rhythmic solutions of "Mikä aamu" are accompanied by Jethro Tull resembling flute solos, lyrics focusing to the anxiety of everyday life in controlled society, binding us to the capitalistic enterprises. Both joy of dreams and power of suppressing realities are presented in their own compositional motives. Following them, an acoustic guitar of a lovingly calm pastoral intro leads to another weary description of normal day of life, facing the terrors of technological threats troubling a small man, and thinking what the new age is about after all. Most healing religious rock sphere of passion has solos directed for organ, flutes professionally supporting. After this, piano and lady singer's voice conjure a tender melodic tale of stairs carved to the wind, a really touching anthem of dreaming, yearning to escape searching a better place.

The song title "Koi" could refer to a moth, but I think more likely it meaning the Finnish word for dawn. Acoustic guitar and flute dominate this instrumental song, which reminded in its style the early recordings of Rufus Zuphall. The conclusion of the album opens with fine acid guitar solo, helping to take a step above, strengthening with its words this major lyrical theme of the record. After a quiet folk glade for vocal harmonies, the return to psychedelic sound treated main theme maneuvers forward with religious certainty, shimmering with a warm flame of love. Nice instrumental passage with neat rhythm arrangements follows, exiting the album with darker guitar riff and saxophone solo.

At time of releasing I believe the album was much in opposition for the public taste focusing to rock'n'roll and punk movement, though I understood it was praised by the critics. I believe the band succeeded better than Tabula Rasa in reaching objectives of spiritual oriented art rock expressionism. Though there are no clear doctrines of organized religion mentioned in the lyrics, unlike the album "Ekkedien Tanssi" of group mentioned, which focused to Christianity. The themes are however very powerfully oriented with spiritual subjects, the certainty of other worlds being clearly present in the feeling of the group's melodic idioms and lyrics. The album also enforces the mournful philosophies with glimpses of hope similar from Nova's solitary record and Haikara's debut album from the Finnish 1970's prog scene. My appreciation for this highly spiritual album is as great as for these two mentioned.