KLINGRA

Afenginn is the project from the Finnish musician and respected Scandnavian folklorist Kim Nyberg, which was created in 2002. The music is an eccentric style that combines elements of rock, jazz and folk, utilizing instruments from each of the styles, including mandolin, violin, clarinet and so on. The project is not necessarily a one-man show, however, as there is always a collection of musicians involved in the band that have collaborated with the project through time.

The 7th album released by the project is called "Klingra" and was released in October of 2019. Nyberg is the composer and arranger for the music on the album, however, lineup consists of 9 other musicians and the Danish String Quartet. Olavur Jakupsson provides the lead vocals, and along with him there are pianos, violin, trombone, steel guitar, bass, drums and percussion. The album consists of 8 tracks and has a total run time of just under 43 minutes.

The twinkling sounds of the pianos start off the album on the track "Skjalvtin (The Impact)" (6:50). The music swells when the strings come in and soon the crashes of cymbals roll in and out. Vocals come in after 2 minutes, the voice is quite pleasant and fits with the soft instrumentals. The track continues in soft beauty, and becomes more suspended when the vocals switch to spoken word. When this stops, the music swells again with a beautiful orchestral sound, then it calms to the original pensiveness of the pianos. "Litmer (The Colours)" (4:25) carries the piano motif forward, becoming softer as the distant cries of a violin sound off. The sound is lonely and expansive, thoughtful and sparse, and the harmonies are all traditional and the music is melodic. Later, hesitant percussion joins in, but not in any rhythmic way. "Himnakropparnir (Celestial Bodies)" (3:41) begins as the music continues to flow into this track and the percussion finds its soft and constant rhythm, the pianos come together melodically, and a steel guitar sounds off. Vocals begin again with layered lines that break off into supporting melodic counterpoint. The strings build up the intensity bringing in the brass and strengthening the drums. Everything quickly backs off in the final seconds leaving only pianos again, and the constant flowing of the last three tracks comes to an end.

"Ivin (The Doubt)" (5:46) begins with constant, busy percussion playing along quietly with keys and piano, evoking a slightly tribal feeling, but not in any overpowering way as the music remains pensive and soft. The piano still carries the melodic side of the music as rolling drums, synths and strings slowly increase the intensity, level off, and float along peacefully. There is a sudden swell and the music moves into "Vitin (The Lighthouse)" (6:25). The strings now carry the music forward, the cello provides a smooth bass, and single, heavy notes from the bass guitar make this sound almost like an old western. The percussion disappears and the strings keep the music flowing as the bass thumps out single notes. Close your eyes and drift along. Halfway through, the only instruments playing are the strings as even the bass fades away. A sudden crash of cymbal and drums marks the beginning of "Skapanin (The Creation)" (4:39) as the strings continue bringing in sparse percussion and allowing the pianos to take over again. The music has a more rhythmic sense to it which is made more apparent as the percussion becomes louder and chords mark the beat. The pedal steel guitar returns with soft cries, the brass makes itself heard in sublte tones, but suddenly the drums become louder and louder, and the music swells to a sudden heaviness, and then backs off leaving single notes from the piano.

"Tokkin (The Thanking)" (3:55) starts off immediately with the vocals finally returning, at first with no accompaniment, and then joined by soft piano and strings. The violin and piano take over when the vocals allow for a short break, then they return later becoming more emotional towards the end. "Eftirskjáltvin (The Aftershock)" (7:14) carry on with the simple piano motif, the music very sparse amd pensive again. Soft cries from the pedal steel guitar sound off in the distance, and soon the strings start to build. Vocals come in again before the 3 minute mark. A sudden swell from the percussion brings in the fullness of the band in a beautiful orchestral build as the vocals continue. The sound becomes more cinematic and somewhat dramatic. A sudden hit from the percussion stops the instruments except for a few more remaining vocals and then a distant, lone piano takes it quietly to the end.

The music on this album is very orchestral, yet mostly sparse and soft. It is very relaxing for the most part, but also has enough dynamic sections that will bring you temporarily out of your reverie with emotion, and then quickly returns to the more sparse sounds. It is all very melodic, with the dual pianos providing most of the melodic touches, the constant force that drives the soft music forward. Harmonies use traditional chord structures so that the music never becomes dissonant, thus there are few distractions to its overall beauty. The music is well composed and arranged, the only drawback being just a personal taste issue on my part, wishing for more powerful sections at times, but still finding it quite enjoyable and meditative overall. Music like this sometimes runs the risk of becoming too "new age" sounding, but this is not the case here as it sounds more classically inclined more than in a jazz style. It's probably similar to Debussy's style, reflective and flowing, but instead sounding more sparse and linear than the classical composer. It's quite a lovely album, mostly relaxing and calm, yet still dynamic enough to throw in some surprises. Easily 4 stars.