På jorden et sted – Utvalgte Nordiske dikt

Beautifully presented with the upmost care and attention to detail is the latest album by Finn Coren with ‘På Jorden et sted – Utvalgte Nordiske dikt’ (‘Somewhere On Earth – Selected Nordic Poems’). With this being his seventh solo album, and the third in a separate series that focuses on Nordic poets, Finn Coren has arranged his songs to provide an interpretation of the poetry from fourteen different Nordic poets. The poems selected will be familiar to those who grew up in such surroundings, or those who simply have a taste for Nordic culture, as the poetry centres on a selection of well-known classics from these regions, in addition to a few lesser known choices. Considering the level of detail gone into making these songs, it comes as no surprise that the majority of these tracks have been under construction for some considerable time. That’s not to say that Finn Coren has not received additional help in order to bring this latest album to life, as no less than four other musicians including Øyvind Fossheim (piano), Gjermund Kolltveit (Hardanger fiddle, kanklės), Stian Omenås (trumpet) and Lars Fredrik Frøislie (Mellotron, Chamberlin) contributed to the making of ‘På jorden et sted – Utvalgte Nordiske dikt’. With the chosen poetry relaying themes – three core themes in fact – concerned with life, love and death and inspired by classical and folk music, Finn Coren breathes the poetic words in a hushed manner that complements the often pared back sound of the instruments. ‘Salme’ is one such example where the vocals and largely grand piano provides an intimate experience that, in its combined state, drowns out all other external interferences such is the song’s alluring power. The intimacy grows even further with the pairing of acoustic guitar and faintest of horns during ‘Innbying’, that sees the vocals flit between the already mentioned whispered tones to spoken word passages making for a stirring piece of work. Finn Coren blossoms somewhat during ‘Sång’ and is accompanied by gorgeous sounding strings, only for the mood to blacken with the funeral procession feel of ‘Alle veier bort fra dig’ that, musically, could find a home on a Tom Waits album. With jagged edges all round adding to the compelling narrative of ‘Havet’, and the opening ‘Salme’ given another outing via an instrumental reworking, ‘På jorden et sted – Utvalgte Nordiske dikt’ is an absorbing experience full of light and shade, and one that is skilfully managed by way of its musicianship and chosen poetry that marks out album number seven for Finn Coren as really rather special.