By Bona Pjarren
The winner of the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize, which has been previously won by Björk,, Eivør is part of a new wave of Nordic artists, alongside the likes of Wardruna and Heilung, with whom the Faroese throat singer has previously collaborated, rapidly building passionate international fan bases with music that honours their ancient cultural and musical folklore. At last count, Eivør’s music has been streamed over 93 million times.
Although her collaborators on this occasion, John Lunn and Danny Saul mostly work with analog synths in sculpting the musical foundation to ‘Destiny Is All’, they also experimented with such instruments as the kantele, a zither-like object used in traditional Finnish music, and the double bass, an instrument Lunn processed with distortion pedals to generate a particularly ferocious
sound.
And so to the review. Lead track ‘The Beloveds’ is very evocative with tribal style drumming and washes of synths to really give it an ancient feel. Unsurprisingly, it has a strong Heilung and Wardruna feel to it.
‘Blood Will Prevail’ has a strong acoustic folk feel to its opening chords to its atmospheric soaring vocals. ‘Death of Aethelflaed’ has a harp style instrument which gives a haunting feel to this ethereal ballad accentuated by some beautiful vocals. It is essentially a requiem.
‘The Last Kingdom – Slight Return’ (as it’s title suggests, the album features music either drawn from or inspired by the TV series ‘The Last Kingdom’ and the forthcoming spin-off movie ‘Seven Kings Must Die’) has a more militaristic feel to it with strong tribal beats and a march type swing. Clever use of synths really add to the galloping ambience of this track. It fades to a more soulful ballad feel.
‘Forever’ has a fairy tale edge to its lilting melody. This album really does tell a story and is going to be a good fit to the series. It evolves seamlessly through the gears and is majestic in its conception. ‘Shadow Queen’ is another haunting track, I loved the treatment on the drum sound which gives it real depth and acts as a counterpoint to the laid back vocals. It builds nicely with some clever atmospheric synths and hand claps. Special effects on some of the backing really gives the icing on the cake.
‘Blues For Halig’ again has some great drum sounds that give an open feel to the piece further accented by inspired use of synths and ethereal vocals floating over the top. This track builds and evolves as it progresses. ‘Banished’ has a nice harp type instrument which really evokes a feeling of loss and banishment. Synths supply much of the rhythm accented by very subtle drum heartbeats. I loved the way this track builds and recedes.
‘Hymn 49’, as the title suggests, has a definite ecclesiastical essence to its treatments. Female vocals float over synth and string washes. It is very evocative. ‘Until Valhalla’ introduces itself like the dawning of a new day, effortlessly building in intensity as it shifts through the gears. Each new element introduced adds to the crescendo until it reaches a plateau. The vocals are soaring and sublime.
‘Lívstræðrir II’ is the final track on the album. With strong tribal beats and soulful folk singing it is a strong finale. Full of atmospheric magic the synths are again to the fore creating something memorable.
Eivør really has created something evocative and uniquely Norse with this album. I can easily see why it won her the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize. Wonderfully imagined, it provides sweeping soundscapes, and there are obvious comparisons to Heilung and Wardruna and yet she has her own unique voice. Together, Eivør, Lunn and Saul have created a really strong album to accompany ‘The Last Kingdom’. I thoroughly recommend this album.
- ‘The Last Kingdom – Destiny Is All‘ is released digitally on Friday (7 April) with the physical release to follow on 22 April.
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