We’re a bit late with this one; it was released on 1st July, but better late than never. The last time we heard from Henna Emilia Hietamäki she was singing a protest song, called ‘Protesti’, one of few you get to hear these days.
And I made a point of mentioning the names of some of the female protest singers of the past, whom so few appear to wish to emulate. We’re off the protest beat with this song, ‘Kulkuri,’ but it has a similar attachment to a previous era, namely the 1950s and the beatniks, the spin-off from the Beat Generation which rejected conventional society.
‘Kulkuri’ means ‘The Wanderer’ and symbolises the desire for freedom and detachment from societal mores. The lyrics also ponder the reality that free adventure is usually not something women are encouraged to experience. Except on a gap year.
It isn’t offered up in an aggressive, challenging manner; rather it is so laid back, with a soporific melody, that it seems to address a fait accompli. This is the way that henceforth it will be. They say the 60s and the peace and love counter culture it spawned died at Altamont on 6th December 1969. Perhaps in a far flung cabin with no electricity in a Helsinki suburb it is being resurrected.
Tekla Vály filmed the ‘Kulkuri’ music video in a museum farm in Helsinki.
The album the track is from, ‘Maja,’ will be released on August 19th, 2022 on the Soliti label.
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