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I'm glad to have started the review season with Triakel's Wintersongs, because it is a CD that can be heard in September without really thinking about Christmas at all, if one felt so inclined. The liner notes suggest the band wanted to achieve a non-traditional Christmas sound, and to my ears they have succeeded nicely.

Since all of the songs are sung in Swedish by Triakel's Emma Härdelin, I was unable to experience the work in the fullest sense and had to settle for forming impressions based the arrangements, the vocals, and the feelings these evoked. Not familiar with a lot of Swedish folk music, I was surprised at how much I was reminded of Irish folk arrangements. Along with Celtic sensibility, Kjell-Eric Ericsson's fiddle often expressed an unexpectedly delightful Klezmer quality. I don't know how much this represents traditional Swedish music and how much is just a result of influences on these artists, but these foreign associations gave the music a familiarity that worked well for me.

With Janne Strömstedt rounding out the trio on harmonium, the result is a memorable winter seasonal record featuring a mix of traditional and new songs. At times accompanied by ABBA's Benny Andersson on accordion, Triakel performs a serious, though not somber, set of tunes with which to usher in Winter's chill.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2001)

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Triakel

Wintersongs

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