Mirja Klippel connects soulful depths andwild Nordic nature on the ambitious alternative folk music album Slow Coming Alive
After her first notable releases, which led to a Danish Music Award as “Songwriter of the Year” and extensive touring activity in Europe and Russia, the Finnish artist and songwriter Mirja Klippel returns with the ambitious and beautiful album Slow Coming Alive. The album will be released on the 16th of April on Stargazer Records and it combinespsychological themes and wild Nordic landscapesinto an alternative folk universe.
Pain and clarity
With a gripping voice, a rich sonic universe and a sense of songwriting, where deeply felt experiences are embedded in the imagery of Nordic nature, the Finnish songwriter Mirja Klippel is a remarkable talent on the alternative folk scene. Her new album, Slow Coming Alive, is another complex, ambitious and relevant work, inspired by Nordic folk music traditions, which keep on nourishing Klippel’s personal expression. From there emerges a poetically woven musical universe that is entwined with Klippel's interest in depth psychology. In her own words:
"Some of the most painful moments of my life have also been the most sacred. Inside intense pain, a flash of clarity can occur, like lightning, guiding you through. I started looking intopoems I wrote in my childhood and teenage years. Going back to those moments where innocence was lost, with the experience I carry today, was very healing. A processthat flowed into the songs of this album”.
This process is best reflected in three Finnish songs that stem from the vulnerability of youth. Both fragility and strength distinguish the six English songs, which revolve around the acceptance of death, the embrace of painful feelings and liberation from toxic relationships - as in the title track Slow Coming Alive and the song Knives, both of which can be heard in both a psychological and a genderpolitical context.
Notable and matured voice on the Nordic folk scene
Mirja Klippel's debut EP, Lift Your Lion (2016) introduced her as a strong voice on the Nordic folk scene, and won her a Danish Music Award as Songwriter of the Year. In 2018, the EP was followed by the critically acclaimed full-length debut River of Silver (Stargazer Records), which sent her on an extensive tour around major parts of Europe and Russia.
Slow Coming Alive presents a matured artist who continues to expand the width of her songwriting. Klippel herself has produced and arranged the album's nine songs, which unfold in a fresh chamber musical universe that draws on both Nordic folk music, melancholic americana and spherical sounds. Accompanied by her long-time musical companion Alex Jønsson on electric guitar and effects, Klippel plays both acoustic guitars and the old German string instrument waldzither. Additional layers of beautiful choral parts and string arrangements, performed by the awarded string trio Vesselil, complete the shimmering soundscapes.
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