Experimental and soothing singer-songwriter magic.
Maria Norseth Garli’s debut album “Golden” is intimate and organic. It touches you and it grows on you. In other words, the album features both cathy and more experimental compositions. The many layers draws you into a musical treasure hunt.
The album opens slowly. “Follow” is peaceful, almost meditative. It features a delicate layer of strings, an acoustic guitar and the artists’ fragile voice. “Follow… The noise. Follow… The silence,” Garli sings. The piece returns as “Follow 2”. Garli sings the same lyrics byt this time followed by a little choir, as if she has gained some friends along the way. Or has she just layered her own voice several times? We don’t know but it concludes the album in a soothing way.
The title track is the most progressive. “Golden” features expressive and improvised compemporary expmeriments, featuring various metal sound and the artist’s voice pushed to the limit as an instrument.
Garli’s project also includes a poetry book and several videoes. The book titled “Betraktninger. Om fornemmelser” provides reflections on the creative process and everything that surounds it. The videos is a result of collaborations with several directors and artists. It’s possible to view on the Garli’s Vimeo or website.
One of the highlights is “Fallen Off”. The composition is simple. Two layers of guitar. The artists’ voice. The waves shaping the bare rock faces. Three women are fighting with and clinging to the nature around them. The video is directed by Juliane Schütz.
After all “Golden” is an ambitious debut. The avant-garde artistic choices combined with the musicality and vocal control is not something we are to expect from a first release. The album is well crafted with love and care. They say that not everything that glitters is gold but this is definetly the real deal.
Also check out the video by Linda Oláh for “Follow II”:
Stream “Golden” LP on Spotify and YouTube Music.
*
Maria Norseth Garli on Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram.
Photo credit: Juliane Schütz
