Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Faroe Islands might not be on top of the vast majority of people’s thoughts when it comes listening to music, it is a shame as the tiny archipelago with a population of about 50,000 has some excellent traditional music of which it justly and rightly proud but also some incredible contemporary musicians who give their all in their performance and studio albums. One such musician is Lena Anderssen.
Lena Anderssen’s 2011 album Letters From The Faroes fills any musical void that may have opened up between the U.K. and the small set of islands is immediately plugged completely by the tantalising music on offer by the young Faroese woman.
Letters From The Faroes captures the imagination of a land that so many, not just in the U.K. but across Europe, either shamefully have never heard of or choose to ignore under the mistaken belief that unlike say large cities straddled across the continent such as London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam or Moscow, that there is nothing on offer, nothing tangible to take away from the lands culture wise.
Lena Anderssen carefully weaves together the solitude that one must feel being so far in any direction when hemmed in and with only the sea for company, the melancholic seclusion that grips at the heart of anyone who lives on an island, even if they have managed to live for a while in towns bigger than the island of birth, and the natural beauty that springs forth like a forgotten field unseen for years which flowers and blooms in the summer sun.
Charming is not a word to be bandied about lightly as it leaves a lingering touch more than some deserve but Letters From The Faroes is exactly that, lamenting whimsical charm, content in bowling the listener over, not in some off-hand manner fuelled by bitterness and regret but by a remembrance of love. Tracks such as Departure Blues, The Fighter, Waltz Me To The Wedding and the heart-stopping splendour of My All Time Favourite Song show that Lena Anderssen is a perfect ambassador for music from those old proud lands.
If you are going to throw yourself into the void and hope that someone from another country, another way of life will take notice then the stunning music of Lena Anderssen is to grab hold of and enjoy fully.
Ian D. Hall