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Rating: Have you ever found yourself getting lost while listening to an album?
Have you ever experienced being at the center of time travel, simply by enjoying the songs?
No? Then this is the album for you: there's very little out there that can engage as much as the songs of this wonderful singer-songwriter from Oslo. It could be her blue eyes, it could be her childlike voice, but this album has captivated me strongly: there is beauty, soul, blood, muscles in this album. From the very first track, that brief and ghostly musical fragment ("Hoist Anchor") you realize you're facing something different: folk, jazz, indie, ambient. Flashes of Kate Bush, Bjork, Broadcast, Everything But The Girl without forgetting the jazzy voices of Dani Siciliano and Rosin Murphy, but it's just inspiration: this is the album of Hanne Hukkelberg, a simple girl who likes to write and compose music, naïve music that simply comes from intuition, that doesn't follow a logic, a goal: nothing is predetermined, it's all so free and surreal and that’s why you love it.
The more you advance with the songs, track after track, the more you get lost in the eye of a cyclone: the pieces seem to be placed in ascending order. "Cast Anchor" and "Do Not As I Do" are masterpieces of alternative chanson music of this period: killing guitar, barely perceptible electronics, chilling ancestral choirs. "Balloon" is still astonishing, perhaps more so: warp-like electronics, jazz flashes, voice captured by the rhythm, victimized by the sounds. It is pure poetry.
The Norwegian landscapes appear before your eyes: ghost towns, Scandinavian forests where transparent ghosts cry out their pain. The strings hurt, they seem to perform a macabre, yet very sweet dance. It feels like hearing a mother sing a funeral lullaby to her little one: somber, yet sweet and warm.
"Displaced" is a curious and quirky jazz cameo: strings interrupted by vintage radios caress Hukkelberg's splendid voice in a spiral of dreams and nightmares that intertwine.
"Ease" is a cross between Billie Holiday and Emiliana Torrini: the voice makes love with the instruments, they are in complete symbiosis, incredibly complementary to one another. But after a fleeting and ghostly "Confusion", comes a diamond of maximal beauty: a splendid "True Love", not a love song, but a splendid interpretation that initially doesn't seem too far from a less aggressive Pj Harvey, but then opens up into fans of strings that kiss the blues piano and the ever-enviable voice of the singer. "Music is playing for me/I've never hear it before/Tell me this is true love/Tell Me This is true love". How could you disagree? This song is love at first sight! Stuttering bass, intruding guitar, timid drums, crystal-clear voice. Spectacle!
"Words And A Piece Of Paper" perfectly captures the song of the sirens and is not displeasing at all, instead, it's another demonstration of an enduring talent that culminates in "Boble", which begins with a surreal opening of skewed, electronic, and spatial jazz. Bagpipes, drums, voice.
You are lost in the forest. I can no longer find my direction and even when the album ends, I am lost.
No way, no escape route.
This album is so beautiful that it's deadly.
Handle with care.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Searching (03:05)
I was a lovely hunter
With just fingers and a palm
I'd hunt a dust through a gentle breeze
And grab it between the point and thumb
I raised a dust, started the search
The more I tried the harder it became
But when I sat down, it fell into my hand
I was a lonely hunter
Bow and arrow on my back
I couldn't see, had to count on my heart
Then i knew i would find the one
I tried the best i could
But got lost in the woods
Searched all night, but couldn´t see
But now that I can see
My man will come to me
03 Little Girl (02:56)
Go, little girl, to the woods, the trees
They've been waiting for you and your
Springscream in green
You've come to make them see
And to set them free
And then run into spring
Run, little girl, and bring your spade
Start to dig up their cold and frozen souls
You'll see that far underneath
There's a soul you can take
With you into the spring
Thoughts of the winter; freezing cold and tired
White and burying snow slowly, slowly
Laid the woods to sleep
Everything is lying still
Until somebody wakes them
Listen, little girl, the sun will tell you that
All the rays will come visit you now
The sun will spread its light and
Bring you all into the spring
04 Cast Anchor (04:15)
Once i had this urge to go sailing
Leaving the shore in a boat of wood.
Sailing, sailing on, all alone
I will cast anchor a place where it's calm
And stay for a while
Sit back and wonder how things are down under and smile
Not the urge to go somewhere else
Not the urge to blow away
Not the urge to travel far
But the urge for standstill
I can imagine the fine weather
Sunrays' playing between kind waves
A jumping fish says hello and the birds are singing
05 Do Not as I Do (03:44)
She was haunted by the dead but friendly ghosts.
As her helpers they stayed as her hosts.
And the reason why she kept them was her fear for herself.
Yes, she was dangerous, she might
Drink some wine, sing all night, mess up the yard,
Steal a man, rape his love, then throw it away
And she became what she tried to avoid, she said
Do now as i say, darling, not as i do.
See the way i play, kid, not do as i do.
Do do dodo do do dodo do do not as i do
Or you'll feel blue.
That which no one knew was that her own love was gone,
Stolen from her dead man long ago.
Their son was treated bad 'cause of her ego and selfish thoughts.
She cared less 'bout him than 'bout her own.
He was soft, now he's hard,
Seemingly strong.
All he gets is empty looks,
No confirmation.
All he was taught was throught her and (to) keep quiet, see
Do now as i say, darling, not as i do....
It was like a crime she can't undo.
Now nothing can be done and
It runs in his blood, too
It's not possible to teach a kid by preaching
When you do the opposite.
Do now as i say, darling, not as i do...
06 Balloon (03:13)
He still held my hand in his thread
His head filled with helium
Pulled me up so I couldn't walk
But look at things from a different angle
To hang on to my balloon
And to be shown a glimpse of the truth
Made my cheek flush and my mouth smile
My chest's like a cage full of butterflies
It tickled and I laughed ”such a rare, rare joy”
Suddenly the balloon loosened itself, he said
“I have to move further on, I'll keep on flying
Keep on showing the truth from my point of view”
I fell down on a cotton pavement painted blue
And I lost the sight, lost the moment and my view
The only truth that I knew, moments swiftly disappear
07 Displaced (02:05)
As your heart i'll be with you
But in pain 'cause this things
I'm with you but not in you
In the place i should be
As your heart i beat for you
But you woun't beat with me
I'm ashamed of you
'Cause you've put me in your mind
Oh, what a shame
As your heart i'm a prisoner
Trapped behind bars of your mind
I'm not guilty, so it's a pity
That you won't let me through
08 Ease (04:13)
I'm gonna ease my pain
I'll freeze my brain
I'm a whistling man with some
Whistling booze
I please her cheak, then let her loose
'Cause when I'm with a girl
I know what I deserve
I take the main bite
But I always leave them in the morninglight
I'm gonna wake up each morning
And stay cool
I'm a smiling man with a smiling lie
I please my sin, or I'll die!
When I'm with my friends
It can be pretty tense
'Cause what I do and what I say
Is not exactly the same
But I don't care
And for God's sake, I need the time
To restrain the lie
Ease my pain
And freeze my brain
'Cause when I'm with a girl
I know what I deserve
I take the main bite
But I always leave them
And when I'm with my friends
It can be pretty tense
Because of what I do and what I say
I always leave them
But when I'm all alone
My tiny heart of foam
Dries a little...
09 Conversion (02:23)
The sea is like a neverending tune
And it comforts with its wave so pure
Comes in every corner of my body
And smiles and warmes
And it peels me with the sand
I wish i could convert to waves
And become the sea
Then i could clean you, clean you
Moments are scratching on my knee
I fight with the thoughts of fear
Fear for the loneliness i know
I'm alone as the sea
'Cause the pain you do in me
I wish i could convert to you
And you to the sea
“Clean me, clean me!”
11 Kæft (01:08)
I admit
I wonder
I sometimes
Wonder where you are
Takk!
Hold kkkkkkæft mann!
13 Boble (04:19)
Boble av bomull
Spinner rundt
Med meg
Inni seg
Gjennomsiktig
Sansene svimles
Synet sløres
Bobletid
Hver detalj
Blir større her
Som snekrystallens
Mange tær og
Sirkelens mange
Hjørnetenner
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Other reviews
By Lello
It literally enchanted me from the first listen, something that no longer happens so often.
"Boble"... creates a not bad atmosphere that carries you away.
By NicholasRodneyDrake
What a beautiful voice Hanne, what a sweet, enchanting, and celestial little voice Hanne has.
Truly a great debut album, well played, well sung and leaving great hopes for the future.
