Scarlet Thread
Psykedeelisiä Joutsenlauluja

"Tarots and the North" (twelve writings each paired with a Major Arcana by Luis Royo)

"IX. The Star"

A gentle, almost timid music, manages to go unnoticed despite its disarming beauty. Sounds capable of evoking the freedom of untouched nature, in a setting that perfectly embodies the Epicurean motto "live hidden", far from the vain anxieties fueled by society or the fratricidal wars waged in the name of non-existent power. What is necessary is already here, within reach, and the instruments are keen to emphasize this with every note, faithful to the philosophy of the Garden of Athens, which, wrongly accused of vulgar hedonism since antiquity, has always proposed, on the contrary, an ascetic lifestyle, framing happiness within the confines of a frugal and tranquil existence, dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure, not understood as the satisfaction of urges or desires, but as the absence of pain and disturbance.

The summary of the essential aspects of this doctrine was born in 2003 and immediately throws down the gauntlet to the established rules of the music industry, both quantitatively, considering about half an hour of duration as sufficient, and qualitatively, showcasing an unusual electric folk dominated by violin and guitar. But the greatest provocation perhaps lies in the name "Psychedelic Swan Song" ("Psykedeelisiä Joutsenlauluja"), capable of igniting, besides justified doubts about the stylistic identity of the album, also and especially the fears related to the high rate of "infant mortality" that the progressive world has always fallen victim to. The credit for dispelling these shadows will fall, three years later, on the providential birth of the rebellious and hyper-dynamic "Valheista Kaunein", a worthy heir, despite the care taken to avoid dogmatic crystalizations, of the underlying thought expressed by the contemplative elder sibling.

The Scarlet Thread entrust the dissemination of their message to the violin of Eini Pesälä, a virtuosic envoy of a harmony initially obstructed by heated disputes with the guitar ("Viisauden Alku"), but quickly reached by the nostalgic laments of that solitary swan mentioned earlier ("Joutsenten Kaihoisa Laulu"), guaranteeing a deep reflective atmosphere, which soon manifests in the awe of the bass by Jani Timoniemi, captivated by the ineffable facets of a hypnotic and sinuous environment ("Siipirikon Lento").

Amid uncertain paths, barely visible in the heart of dense wooded labyrinths, the dreamy elegies of Anni Pesälä's flute ("Vapahtaja") echo, lost in admiration for the acrobatic dances of a violin in ecstasy, whose radiant pirouetting mercilessly tears apart the quiet nocturnal darkness ("Pimeästä Pohjolasta"); elsewhere, with their gaze captured by the currents of the ether, the guitar and disjointed drums of Panu Koskela passionately collaborate in an attempt to unveil the meaning of majestic and inscrutable celestial phenomena ("Johdatus", "Ajasta Ikuisuuteen").

Shortly after the release of the second album, the band systematically reworked their repertoire to accommodate the voice of newcomer Mari Vuoritie, and two years ago, just before the wholesale replacement of the rhythmic section, the third effort "Never Since" was reportedly completed, still unreleased. It remains to be hoped that such upheavals do not nullify the achievements established by the first two works, of which this debut shines like a small star yet capable of infusing a contagious calm into the soul of those who gaze at its glow, granting physical reality to Epicurus's dictum that only "the serene man brings serenity to himself and to others".