Maija Kauhanen and Johannes Geworkian Hellman, “Migrating”
Painting vivid impressionistic landscapes through their medieval instruments, Nordic folk titans Maija Kauhanen and Johannes Geworkian Hellman join forces on their debut album Migrating. Each of these musicians are heavy hitters on their respective instruments, Maija on kantele and Johannes on hurdy-gurdy, so I have been fairly curious in the lead up to this record to see how these musicians were going to pull off blending these instruments which, despite being rather ancient, have seldom been put together, and certainly not at this caliber. Further, Migrating brings with it a strong concept, as written for the album’s liner notes:
“The theme of the album is inspired by migrating birds – “birds of passage” – who regularly during their lives travel from one place to another. Their sense of navigation is a result of combining their different senses to find the right way. When the time comes to return home, they are somehow able to find the way”, tells Maija about the album.
For us, music and art is a way to describe and portray our observations. When we are playing, we are travelling – trying to combine our senses to find the common direction. The music gives us the possibility to migrate to other places, both imaginary and those from our memories.”
So, with an inspiring concept leading the charge backed by two remarkable musicians of the Nordic folk scene, let’s dive in to see what awaits listeners in Migrating.
The record kicks off with Birds of Passage, opening with a hypnotic kantele line which paves the way for a serenading gurdy melody introduced by imitating a bird call. The gurdy line has an interesting balance of feeling equally composed and improvisatory – a balance which will be threaded through much of the record. Half way through this track, the kantele breaks its rolling pattern to change up the texture and give Maija’s voice the lead with Johannes accompanying. This track introduces a few elements which will characterize the rest of the album: a heavy impressionist flair, textured use of vocals, and a playful imitating of various bird calls.
Mothers Song brings the album back down to earth after the lofty heights of Birds of Passage. This track turned out to be my favorite on the record, notably due to the continued hypnotic use of ostinatos (repeated musical motifs) which create a very cyclical sound which obscures time. This kind of writing complements the aesthetic goals of the record laid out by the artists quite well, in that it opens up a dream or trance-like quality in the music. The vocals in this track, arguably its main event, are the perfect example of this, and stand out as the most memorable part of Migrating, putting the beauty of the instruments and the musicians’ voices on full display.
From here, the tone of the record is set, and more or less gives you more of what the first two tracks introduce, but with some added twists. Dark Valley introduces an eastern tonality to it as well as the first use of lyrics. The Island is impressionism incarnate as an evocative ambient piece depicting the misty illusion of the track’s namesake. Side by Side serves as the only “song” on the album in the traditional sense, while First Flight introduces an experimental element to the use of chromaticism along with what I can loosely identify as a polka rhythm. Finally, the album concludes on Your Wings Will Carry which ends the album on the same soaring note it opened with, rounding off the record in a nice and satisfying way.
What stands out to me by the album’s end, is the sheer amount of music in it. There are so many layers, so many twists and turns, that by the end of each track you feel as though it’s hard to pin down one thing to talk about. This is a breath of fresh air, and challenged me as a listener in a way I wish I was challenged more often, particularly by folk musicians. But beyond the sheer density of the album are also those characteristics I teased earlier: the masterful interplay between these instruments which you don’t hear together often with the layered weaving of vocals creates a sonic experience like no other, only further enhanced by added effects such as string scraping on the kantele or the bird calls on the higher register of the gurdy which create a more rich sonic atmosphere.
Contemporary Nordic folk is deep in an impressionistic phase – this is a trend that started around the 2010s that is only getting more apparent with time with acts like Stundom and Aevestaden, with even older bands such as Frigg dipping their toes in the water with their latest album Dreamscapes. To this end, Migrating is a beautiful further exploration of this side of Nordic folk, with both of these incredible musicians playing off of each other in a way that brings out each of their own strengths while opening up new musical possibilities previously unexplored. As the resident bird guy, I can also confidently say the record delivered on its promise to evoke the avian experiences from which it was inspired. I greatly look forward to seeing where this duo might take us next.