Jude Rogers' folk album of the month
A follow-up to Maurseth's 2022 Nordic music prize-winning Hárr, Mirra is named after an old dialect word describing wild reindeer running together in a circling pattern. Norwegian folk's rhythmic repetitions feed Maurseth's intricate compositions (as do the influences of minimalism and Krautrock), but the contributions of her bandmates, and the rustling textures of animal sounds, are also key. The bass and electronics of Mats Eilertsen and the melodic percussion of Håkon Stene suggest honks and heavy steps, especially in the jangling title track and the ominous Jaktmarsj (Hunting March). The tremulous Kvitkrull (Reindeer Lichen) is influenced by 1978 Canadian film Sámi Herders, while Nysnø Over Reinlav (Fresh Snow Over Reindeer Moss) includes field recordings of 13 animals, including gyrfalcons, whimbrels and wolverines, alongside producer Morten Qvenild's fluttering piano.
Throughout the album, Maurseth's fiddle is bowed, plucked and droned, evoking winds and weathers of all strengths. Her tentative, edgy melody on Kalven Reiser Seg (The Calf Rises), conveying the early hours of a deer's life, is also a highlight. Maurseth recently said she has only seen wild reindeer twice in her life, despite living near them, once in herds of hundreds when she was seven. The possibility of fleeting magic, both instrumental and animal, is her album's sparkling backbone.
London duo Spafford Campbell's Tomorrow Held (Real World) brings a dreamy idea to life – what Talk Talk would sound like making an album inspired by British traditional music. Owen Spafford's stark playing overlays Louis Campbell's guitar reverb and minimalist shimmers to gorgeous effect in the instrumentals, while its sole song, the Campbell-sung All Your Tiny Bones, leans towards the dreamier moments of Bastille and Alt-J. Rooted in the traditions of English folk, Americana and old time music, Antony Hurley's Howl for More (Lanterne) is a lovely, languid set of travelling songs, written between southern Italy, Mexico and the Kent coast. Finally, Teppana Jänis (Death is Not The End) is a fizzing, century-splicing collaboration between Jänis, a Finnish zither player recorded on wax cylinders in the mid-1910s, singer Taito Hoffrén, who died in 2024, and contemporary kantele player Arja Kastinen.
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The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Jude Rogers' folk album of the month
A hardanger fiddle player from the fjord-and-mountain-filled region of Norway, where the instrument comes from, Benedicte Maurseth explores traditional music, nature and landscape influenced by the idea of ecosophy, a philosophy of ecological harmony. From childhood, she studied under master hardanger fiddler Knut Hamre, exploring the tunes, styles and effects associated with her instrument: its sympathetic strings, funnelled under the fingerboard, are particularly hypnotic, vibrating in response to the notes resonating above, as they do on the sitar and sarangi. A follow-up to Maurseth's 2022 Nordic music prize-winning Hárr, Mirra is named after an old dialect word describing wild reindeer running together in a circling pattern. Norwegian folk's rhythmic repetitions feed Maurseth's intricate compositions (as do the influences of minimalism and Krautrock), but the contributions of her bandmates, and the rustling textures of animal sounds, are also key. The bass and electronics of Mats Eilertsen and the melodic percussion of Håkon Stene suggest honks and heavy steps, especially in the jangling title track and the ominous Jaktmarsj (Hunting March). The tremulous Kvitkrull (Reindeer Lichen) is influenced by 1978 Canadian film Sámi Herders, while Nysnø Over Reinlav (Fresh Snow Over Reindeer Moss) includes field recordings of 13 animals, including gyrfalcons, whimbrels and wolverines, alongside producer Morten Qvenild's fluttering piano. Throughout the album, Maurseth's fiddle is bowed, plucked and droned, evoking winds and weathers of all strengths. Her tentative, edgy melody on Kalven Reiser Seg (The Calf Rises), conveying the early hours of a deer's life, is also a highlight. Maurseth recently said she has only seen wild reindeer twice in her life, despite living near them, once in herds of hundreds when she was seven. The possibility of fleeting magic, both instrumental and animal, is her album's sparkling backbone. London duo Spafford Campbell's Tomorrow Held (Real World) brings a dreamy idea to life – what Talk Talk would sound like making an album inspired by British traditional music. Owen Spafford's stark playing overlays Louis Campbell's guitar reverb and minimalist shimmers to gorgeous effect in the instrumentals, while its sole song, the Campbell-sung All Your Tiny Bones, leans towards the dreamier moments of Bastille and Alt-J. Rooted in the traditions of English folk, Americana and old time music, Antony Hurley's Howl for More (Lanterne) is a lovely, languid set of travelling songs, written between southern Italy, Mexico and the Kent coast. Finally, Teppana Jänis (Death is Not The End) is a fizzing, century-splicing collaboration between Jänis, a Finnish zither player recorded on wax cylinders in the mid-1910s, singer Taito Hoffrén, who died in 2024, and contemporary kantele player Arja Kastinen.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Hedda review – Lily Allen leads a helter-skelter take on Ibsen's tragedy
It is not through any shortcomings of the cast that Matthew Dunster's modern-dress reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler is so peculiar. Lily Allen is convincingly brittle as the bored newlywed who has just returned from honeymoon with her plodding academic husband, George (Ciarán Owens). His loyal aunt, Julia, is exquisitely played by Imogen Stubbs. Julia Chan shines in the part of Hedda's old school friend, Taya, who has left her controlling husband and is in the throes of a love affair with the alcoholic academic Jasper (Tom Austen, all earnestness here). He is Hedda's former lover who sparks her destructive jealousy, which leads to the play's explosive ending. The setting is a cool, Scandi-style living room with long billowing curtains, beautifully designed by Anna Fleischle. But as well-acted and stylish as this production is, why does it not convince in its story? Perhaps because it seems neither of our time nor of Ibsen's. Dunster's adaptation sticks to original events on the whole and this fidelity jars against the modern context. The playwright's Hedda is a female Shakespearean antihero, of sorts, an arch manipulator who seeks freedom from the confinement of her marriage and position in high society. Allen plays the daughter of a music label mogul brought low rather than a woman of aristocratic lineage. But when stripped of the specific confines of her time, she is less coherent as a character. Her refusal to work, for instance, is harder to understand, so Hedda seems like a spoilt princess rather than a woman trapped by, but also resisting, patriarchy. George does not transpose into this world convincingly either: he is not adoring nor pliant and you wonder what he is doing with a wife as conspicuously unloving as Hedda. There is psychological realism – characters speak as they feel – but the language sounds odd and artificial in this setting: Hedda implores Jasper to make his suicide 'beautiful', as in Ibsen's script, and speaks of her 'disgust' when she is told the bullet that killed him was shot into his bowels. Again, it jars. Dunster, also directing, creates good intensity in some scenes but the pace of events gathers a speed that brings out the melodrama of Ibsen's plot. Allen shows you her character's power and rage more than her vulnerability but you do not feel her sense of narrowing choices, maybe due to the rush of events. It grows fevered, not keeping a pace with the psychology of its characters, and by the end, events come thick and fast, from Jasper's drinking binge to trouble with the police, a visit to another woman's home and his misplaced book manuscript (here on a laptop). Characters' emotions swing in one direction and then another. The play's tragedy rests on Hedda's fear of scandal, after the powerful figure of Brack (Brendan Coyle, an MP rather than a judge and compellingly creepy) blackmails her. It does not quite chime – maybe scandal does not carry the same threat for a woman like Hedda today or perhaps this plot point is just not given enough space to grow in its threat. There is tension in the earlier acts and some taut moments, but it ends up seeming like a domestic thriller rather than a grand tragedy. At Ustinov Studio, Bath, until 23 August
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Aussie superfish Kyle Chalmers makes a HUGE family announcement with new love Ingeborg Vloyning
He has been a superfish for Australia in the pool for almost a decade, now Olympic swimmer Kyle Chalmers is ready to find joy outside of the water with a big family announcement. Chalmers has been in a relationship with Norwegian swimmer Ingeborg Vloyning since 2023 after being spotted together at international swim meets and training camps. Now the couple are expecting their first child, with Vloyning boasting a very advanced baby bump. 'See you soon,' Chalmers posted with a picture looking lovingly at his partner. The post has garnered plenty of well wishes, including messages and reactions from fellow Aussie swimming stars Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O'Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Libby Trickett and Kaylee McKeown. Chalmers burst onto the world stage at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning gold in the men's 100m freestyle at just 18 years old. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kyle Chalmers (@kyle_chalmers3) That victory made him the first Australian to claim the event since 1968, instantly cementing his status as a rising star. He added a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay and a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay at the same Games. Chalmers faced a major setback in 2017 when heart surgery forced him out of the World Championships. He returned strongly, winning multiple golds at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in the 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, and 4x100m medley relay. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he narrowly missed defending his 100m freestyle title, taking silver behind American Caeleb Dressel in a thrilling final. He has also claimed world short course titles, including gold in the 100m freestyle at the 2022 FINA World Short Course Championships in Melbourne. Away from the pool, Chalmers was caught in a highly publicised love triangle involving fellow swimmer Emma McKeon and her relationship with Cody Simpson, a former pop star turned competitive swimmer. The media scrutiny surrounding the situation created tension within the Australian swim team ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Chalmers publicly expressed frustration at the coverage, saying it detracted from athletes' performances and mental health. He went on to silence critics by winning gold in the 100m freestyle at those Games, as well as in relay events. In 2023, Chalmers continued to prove his dominance, securing podium finishes at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka. Despite ongoing injury concerns and multiple shoulder surgeries, he has remained committed to extending his career through to the 2024 Paris Olympics and possibly beyond. Chalmers added to his legacy at the Paris 2024 Olympics by winning a silver medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle, clocking 47.48 seconds - his third consecutive Olympic medal in that event. He also swam a blistering 46.59-second anchor leg in the men's 4×100 m freestyle relay, helping the Australian team secure silver with a finishing time of 3:10.35.
