Artist: Tenhi
Album: Maaäet
Year: 2006
Line-Up: Ilmari
Issakainen
- Drums, piano, guitar, bass, percussions, backing vocals
Tyko
Saarikko
- Vocals, piano, harmonium, synth, guitar, percussions
Ilkka
Salminen
- Vocals, guitar, bass, harmonium, percussions
Inka
Eerola
- Violin
Jaakko
Hilppö
- Backing vocals
Janina
Lehto
- Flute
Tuukka
Tolvanen
- Backing vocals
Label: Prophecy
Productions
Tenhi’s
music is Finnish melancholy in its' finest. The dark, soft ambience
that these musicians create is minimal and small, but at the same
time kind of huge and even epic. Tenhi takes great inspiration from
nature, especially from Finnish nature. They claim it to be an
endless source of amazement and beauty. Maaäet is their third studio
album and they describe its theme as follows:
“We
compare our album Maaäet to an autumnal forest. It was its feel that
we aimed for when we were creating the music. Life slowly fleeing
from everywhere, fatalism, acceptance, gentle fall to sleep, turning
towards an end of a cycle, giving energy back to earth — giving it
to be a seed of new life.”
The
album contains 12 tracks, almost all including vocals sung in
Finnish. I usually tend to understate the beauty of the Finnish
language, and even consider it occasionally pretty ugly, but I have
to admit that Tenhi makes my mother tongue sound enchantingly
beautiful and it suits this kind of music perfectly. Their use of the
violin together with piano is brilliant and smooth while guitar,
drums and bass are actually used rather rock-oriented. Only a few
graceful melodies and some minimal fingerpicking with the guitar can
create lovely emotions and soundscapes. Some tracks even include
heavy riffs, but mainly the music is pretty folky with a progressive
touch.
Tenhi
is an old Finnish word meaning a village elder, wise old man, or
seer. For Tenhi, visual arts are almost just as important as the
music. The band creates the album covers by themselves. The dark
artwork dominating in the sleeve of the CD works as a window from
where the themes are captured, as it has guided the band in composing
the music for this beautifully floating piece. Maaäet is a very
interesting album, and if you want to explore the Nordic melancholy
Tenhi is a good place to start. Varpuspäivä (Sparrow Day) is the
opener of the album, enjoy:
Written
by: Oz
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