Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In an evening of music supplied by Stillhet’s Strings and Things, an evening in which the order of the day was showing female talent that resides in the heart of the city of Liverpool, the Nordic beating heart of atmospheric Noir-like pop tones with shades of the Progressive cleverly interwoven throughout every sinew, may not have been the first thought in many people’s minds of what to expect on the first day of the month in which the freezing cold is meant to be banished back to its Antarctica cave.

For Mari Hajem and her band, this though was a chance to revel in something supplied by other Norwegian bands and artists that have made Liverpool their home thanks to L.I.P.A., the art of story-telling with an edge of darkness to it, the hint of something beyond the line of sight that eyes cannot discern but wrapped up in musical tones that beguile and float tantalisingly just out of reach.

It is something that the Scandinavians do very well, whether that’s down to inherent culture, the fact that great story-tellers have always come from those Northern lands or perhaps even down to their graphical position in the world. They are a set of countries so steeped in darkness for the better half of the year that it becomes natural to put a more dark flavour to the tales, even in ones that have a natural air of beauty attached to them, it might never be truly known but it something that Mari Hajem conveys with considerable skill.

Opening with the song Nebula and the very coolly delivered War, Mari Harem entertained the Studio 2 audience with a set that verged on high drama, the swish of a curtain and a scene from a Henrik Ibsen play would not have gone amiss.

Other songs played included Let It Be More, the brand new track Send Me Away, the superb Wild Child and the killer finale of Confusion were all greeted with the same sense of heart stopping emotion from a very packed Studio 2.

Innovative but also filled with the type of musical aspiration and longing that has made artist such as Ragz, Grethe Borsum and Kaya  Herstad Carney such important and admired musicians in Liverpool, Ms. Hajem filled a void that didn’t know it was there.

Powerful, emotional, attention grabbing and beautiful, Ms. Hajem has it all to give and asks very little in return, it is the best of both worlds for such a musician.

Ian D. Hall