TIRILL

Nothing really groundbreaking here (don't think it was meant to be that way) in terms of writing, but it is very well performed, very soulful, innocent and peaceful.

One notable aspect of the album is the way the various instruments employed on the tracks blend so well together to create an ethereal and magical acoustic experience. One can hear the acoustic guitar, violin, cello, percussion, and Norwegian folk music instruments like the hardingfele, all working together to create layers of sound that elevate the songs to another level.

The album's opening track, "The Invisible Leash," sets the tone for the entire album with its captivating use of hardingfele, and Tirill's angelic voice. The songs that follow are all equally mesmerizing, with each track offering a unique perspective on the album's central themes of love, nature, and life.

Another impressive aspect of the album is the care and thought put into the production, as it feels natural and organic, effortlessly blending Tirill's voice with the instrumentals. The album's engineering seems designed to put the listener in the same space as Tirill and her band, creating an atmospheric and emotional experience.

However, while the album is an impressive cohesive effort, there are some moments that feel somewhat overproduced or lack fullness, particularly in the slower tracks. At the same time, the songwriting on this album can feel repetitive and limited, and while the instrumentals can be excellent, the weak lyrics detract from those moments of the album.

In conclusion, "TIRILL - Said the Sun to the Moon" is an exceptional album that showcases Tirill Mohn's musical talent and poetic vision. The album boasts an excellent combination of instrumentals and vocals; the record makes the best use of fusion between contemporary folk and traditional music. While there are shortcomings, the album's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, and overall, it is an accomplishment that folk music lovers should not miss.

Released in 2019, this album had been six long years since 'Um Himinjǫ'ur' and one can only hope that the next one comes around far more quickly, as this is a work of some importance. The delicacy and space between the instruments is huge, and one can imagine a small group of friends sat together in a room smiling at each other as they weave the spell. There is a na've charm to some of these, which sounds almost as if they have come out of the Sixties when the world was still innocent, and not from the far more bombastic and plastic world of the current day. It is sheer beauty, possibly something more and certainly nothing less.

I often like to play music at the end of the night, and in order to give my weary ears and brain a rest from playing music I have yet to to review, I often turn to old favourites such as 'Snow Goose' to see out the day. However, this album is such a delight that I have found myself turning to it time and again not because I need to play it more to be able to write some words, but just because I have been enjoying it so much and it relaxes me each time I hear it. Whether this music is described as progressive acoustic, New Age ambient, Celtic or alternative folk, all I know is that it is a delight from beginning to end. Her voice captures me, and combined with the music takes me to places I want to discover, and when playing this on headphones the rest of the world just disappears and I am entranced.

In her own words, `Said the Sun...' is Tirill's ode to `the shift of the seasons, to the beauty of nature in all its phases, and to the human heart that wanders along with it.' Not a concept album as such, rather a themed collection where each side of vinyl covers two seasons, she presents a series of gentle folk tunes, spoken word interludes, delicate instrumentals, sensitive covers and evocative sound-collages with the help of several musical acquaintances, but it's her wistful and compassionate voice that constantly shines front and center throughout.

`Autumn's restrained trickles of harp make for a pretty little opener, but it's Tirill's stark retelling of Nick Drake's `Clothes of Sand' that couldn't be in better hands. All the sensitivity and aching longing she always conveys so impeccably on her works carries this mournful lament, and the groaning cello, weeping violin and a raw urgency to Tirill's acoustic plucks perfectly capture the words of pining to be with a passed love. The most delicate wisps of her exquisite multi-part harmonies then flit around the gentle breeze that is her take on traditional English folk tune `Under the Harvest Moon'.

After `Winter's haunting gothic ballad, Tirill's reinterprets American poet Mark Strands' `Lines for Winter' as a low-key aural collage of acoustic drones, chilly distortion and tolling chimes, retitled to `Under the Small Fire of Winter' and urging the listener to find traces of hope, renewing spirit and hope through the cold of disillusionment and disappointment. But it's instrumental `To the Realms of the Spirit' that reveals true magic, where the most sweetly swooning violin and acoustic guitar weave an endless world of romance together, making for a fanciful and endlessly beautiful way to close out the first side of the LP.

`Spring' teems with the promise of sprightly new life, the delicately touching `Shapes of a Dream' is an elegant acoustic ballad that drifts to heavens of longing and pensive reflection on Tirill's gently cooing sighs, and `Said the Sun to the Moon', setting Kathleen Jessie Raine's poem `Changes' to a dreamy, almost medieval-tinged backing is a metaphorical musing on the inevitable cycle of change that affects all living things.

After `Summer' (another brief interlude that, like all the season titled pieces that popped up on this LP before it, offers interpretations of meditative verses found within Austrian philosopher Rudolof Steiner's contemplation of nature, `The Calendar of the Soul'), `Beneath the Midnight Sun' reminds that all the ballads Tirill duets with a male singer on, in this instance longtime vocal collaborator Dagfinn Hobæk, are always wonderful highlights of her solo discs. But closer `Iridescent Horizon' is the most special moment, being an all-original poem of intangible, dream-like imagery by Tirill, blessed with a transcendent aural backing. Her increasingly breathless recitation purrs through delicate slivers of ethereal guitar strains, and the entire piece unveils a shimmering, vivid ambiance.

This is the kind of quietly ambitious musical undertaking that encourages the listener to conduct their own further research into the influences and inspirations found within it, and yet, all the while, it's wrapped in sweetly reflective tunes that take time and endless listens to properly appreciate, and to discover how deceptively multi-layered, subtly complex and richly expressive the whole suite is. Rife with surreal lyrical imagery delivered vocally with restraint, careful thought and a joyful affection for life and all its natural beauty, `Said the Sun to the Moon' is another artistic musical triumph from the defiantly original folk artist that is Tirill.

Five stars for prog-folk lovers.

01 "Autumn" (1:13) strongly plucked concert harp with the whispery voices of Tirill Mohn and other female soprano, Julie Kleive, open the album with their poetic introduction. (5/5)

02 "Clothes of Sand" (3:08) acoustic guitar and, later, cello, support Tirill in this Nick Drake song. Female vocals harmonize below Tirill during the chorus. Viola and/or violin join the cello beneath the second verse. Like singing with a string quartet. Wow! (9/10)

03 "Under the Harvest Moon" (2:14) harp and Tirill and other voices. A traditional folk song that sounds as if it could be an Andreas Vollenweider Christmas song. (4.5/5)

04 "Winter" (1:58) two harps dancing slowly around each other before Tirill and the beautiful soprano voice of Julie Kleive join in, also singing in tandem as if circling around one another. Stunning! (5/5)

05 "Under the Small Fire of Winter Stars" (2:26) bowed stringed instrument and folk percussives provide the mood accompaniment for Tirill's campfire story-version of this Mark Strand poem. Evocative! (4.5/5)

06 "To the Realms of the Spirit" (3:17) acoustic guitar and other harp and/or lyre (?) duet with bass and Lithuanian zither ("kankl's"). No voices or lyrics despite its inspiration coming from the words of Rudolf Steiner. Very pretty. (8.5/10)

07 "Spring" (1:16) harp and folk madrigal Tirill (and Julie). (4.25/5)

08 "Shapes of a Dream" (4:05) in her breathiest, most knee-buckling voice Tirill sings (with accompaniment from vocalist Marte Bj'rkmann) over a guitalele. A bit of a Judy Collins melody haunts the listener as does the gentle pastoral mood set by the beautiful work of the musicians. (10/10)

09 "Said the Sun to the Moon" (3:09) Tirill and soprano vocalist, Julie Kleive, sing together while harp and lyre (two harp tracks?), guitar, bass play in support on this Kathleen Jessie Raine lyric. Very nice chordal structure from the instrumentalists between the vocal verses. Prog folk does not get better than this! (10/10)

10 "Summer" (1:34) harp supports the now-familiar duo of two female singers (Tirill and Julie, I presume). But wait, do I hear three vocal tracks working in harmony? (4.75/5)

11 "Beneath the Midnight Sun" (4:15) opens with the gorgeous male voice of Dagfinn Hob'k singing with the harp/lute accompaniment. Tirill makes her delicate presence known with occasional harmonized vocals (more as the song goes on). There is an eerie edge to this song--not unlike some of the pagan folk songs of the German band FAUN. Violin joins in during the third minute as does traditional folk Hardanger fiddle. Based on a lyric by Patric Crotty, this is an amazing song--my favorite on the album and one of my favorite songs of 2019! It has all of the qualities of a timeless classic. (10/10)

12 "Iridescent Horizon" (4:34) opens with long-sustaining synthesizer-like treated electric guitar notes floating into the sky like cinders rising from a campfire. Joined by delicately played folk guitar and then Tirill's spoken voice reciting some poetry--poetry evoking beauty and wisdom. The "infinite" guitar is awesome! What an amazing end to an amazing musical journey! I feel bathed, washed, cleansed, refreshed, renewed, revitalized, and reborn! (9.5/10)

One of the most beautiful, enrapturing albums I've ever heard, flowing seemlessly, sucking the listener in from its first notes and then spitting one out at the end limp yet refreshed. Like Sirens enticing and entrapping sailors on the Mediterranean, the vocal duet arrangements and performances of Tirill and Julie Kleive are stunning and totally beguiling. The use of traditional folk instrumentation throughout is also planned meticulously and pulled off flawlessly.

A/five stars; a masterpiece of prog folk and one of the best albums of 2019 and one of the finest prog folk albums of all-time.

There are times when this is more folky and acoustic than her other material, but also others where it is also far more progressive, and almost commercial. Her vocals and arrangements on songs such as "Fagrar Enn Sol" are sublime, with almost Carpenters style harmonies, yet with her voice always very much in control and at the centre. Although some of the lyrics are in Norwegian, this does feel as if it is an English album, and it is no surprise to realise the title translates to 'About Heaven' as the listener really does feel they have been given the opportunity to hear what that sounds like. It is a truly beautiful album, and even six years after its initial release there is a captivating beguiling beauty which cries out to be heard and enjoyed.

This doesn't feel as fragile as the debut, with more of a folk feel as it moves away from the more overtly progressive style, and one would never realise this was a Norwegian album as it feels as if it is an overlooked English masterpiece from nearly fifty years ago. Sublime, with superb breathy, fragile and delicate yet powerful vocals, this is definitely worth discovering.

However, the album is incredibly delicate, with a feeling that a good puff of wind could cause the whole thing to collapse at any time. There are times when she reminds me of the wonderful Talis Kimberley, as well as Judy Dyble. Her style feels very much like that of English folk which was coming out in the early Seventies, yet with additional instrumentation which moves it more into the prog folk field than that of a purist approach to either genre. There is a strength and spine within the vocals, and Tirill can be forceful when she needs to, but never at the expense of beauty and grace. Space is an important instrument on the album, with music and vocals creating a web which is much stronger than may initially believed. I missed the original, and the last reissue, but am glad it has finally come to my attention.

Album highlights for me include: the heart-wrenching harmonized singing and melodies of "Serpent" (4:40) (10/10); the multi-layered choral approach to "Fagrar enn Sol" (2:56) (10/10); the awesome male-female duet, "Muzzled" (4:56) (10/10); the gentle "Voluspa" (3:08) which is sung in Tirill's native language, the mellotron-drenched "Moira" (4:46) (9/10); "The Poet" (5:04) (9/10); the medieval folk song, "Quiet Night" (3:07) (9/10), and; the album's most proggish and 'mini-epic,' "In Their Eyes" (9:25) (8/10).

Amended 12/4/15: Over the past year or so this album has continued to grow in my esteem and frequent my playlists more and more often. Not only has this become one of my favorite albums of the year 2013 but also of the Prog Folk sub-genre as a whole. This album is masterpiece of progressive rock music.