1. Where Do You Run To?
2. Another Day
3. Don’t Look Back
4. Colour Lullabye
5. Flawless
6. We Were Indians
7. Do Lord
8. My Oh My
9. Good Rain
10. The Moon
11. P. S. I Love You
Solveig Slettahjell – Vocals, piano (on track
4)
Sjur Miljeteg – Horns
Morten Qvenild – Piano, keyboards, autoharp,
vocals
Mats Eilertsen – Acoustic and electric bass
Per Oddvar Johansen – Drums, electronics
Solveig
Slettahjell is a vocalist from Norway, and
her singing has some of the chilliness of
that northern realm. She has an attractive
voice, reminiscent of Lizz Wright in its soaring
clarity but sometimes (for example, in We
Were Indians and My Oh My) sounding
like a rather anaemic version of Debbie Harry.
Solveig has an intimate approach which buttonholes
the listener and breathes the lyrics into
his ear. Thankfully the words are in English,
although some of the lyrics are obscure and
the opening track gets on one’s nerves with
its endless repetition of the words "Where
do you run to?"
Another
disconcerting feature is the way that the
keyboardist and drummer like to interject
weird sounds into the generally placid music.
Solveig calls her band the Slow Motion Quintet
and most of the songs seem to be delivered
in slow motion. The overall impression is
generally downbeat – you can’t tap your foot
or sing along with these songs. And the singer’s
understated (even offhand) delivery tends
to suggest "Take it or leave it".
Many
listeners will take it rather than leave it,
as the enigmatic style is intriguing. Others
will find the music puzzling, especially as
most of the songs are originals which make
few concessions to comprehensibility. The
only jazz standard is the final P. S. I
Love You, which is more accessible than
the rest of the material, although it lasts
for less than two minutes. British listeners
can judge for themselves, as Solveig is touring
the UK in November.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Act ACT 9713-2
