Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For many, the first sight or sound of Linnea Olsson may well have been her sterling support and overwhelming addition to Peter Gabriel’s live arena shows during 2013. As magnificent as her contribution was, it would be a disservice not to shout and praise from the rooftops her solo album from 2011, the cello driven Ah!

The cello should be considered in anybody’s book a seminal instrument; it might not have the so-called kudos and sex-appeal of the electric guitar and the heavyweight approach of the drums which pounds in time against the backdrop of a person’s heart but what it lacks in people’s imagination is more than made up for the sublime beauty it resonates when performed by somebody of Linnea Olsson’s tremendous capability. Like Liverpool’s Vicky Mutch and Stephanie E. Kearley, in the hands of a musical maestro that is produced from a cello, coupled with a great sense of musical rhythm and a voice that can make grown men weep with joy, can be enough to soothe the savage beast.

Linnea Olsson could as well be sat in the open forests of the far northern countries of Europe, sending out musical messages of enlightened hope to the lost souls that haunt the deep and unforgiving woods; such is the grace that the music is played with. The cerebral challenging beauty that resides inside the layered tones, the siren like softly whispered words that stroke the soul, all are here inside this album to be admired and pondered over.

It always seems a shame that such a musician might be neglected by the wider world if not for musician’s such as Peter Gabriel taking them on tour with them but Ah! Is worth parting with the extra few pounds to hear tracks such as Giddy Up!, the depth of Fortune, the crazy beauty of Dinosaur and the charm and elegance of Goodbye.

The old mystery of Scandinavia is once more in reach, to let Linnea Olsson be your guide through the darkness and back into the natural world of light is one that will not be regretted.

Ian D. Hall