I despair of having to write these quick Potpourri articles as they can never do justice to the artist but with releases piling up again it’s a question of needs must.
First off tonight is Britli Trio from Järna, Sweden, about 50km southwest of Stockholm and the track ‘Revelation’ one of three on their debut EP ‘Timing’ and which was also released as a single.
Britli Trio is Swedish but a band that sounds more like a British one, and specifically from the 1960s and 70s if you hark back to the days of Fairport Convention, Lindisfarne, Steeleye Span and The Strawbs, and singers like Sandy Denny and Maddy Prior, with the exception that their music might be classified more as folk-pop than folk-rock.
This particular track distinctly reminded me of the latter day anti-folk-popster Emmy the Great at her darkest: musically, vocally, lyrically and in how she delivers the song.
And the lyrics are uniformly dark and foreboding throughout.
Musically, their sound emanates from acoustic guitar, accordion and harp but there is such depth to it that there could easily be a mini orchestra in there. It is powerful and compelling in a slightly disturbing way, the sort of work that might be sung while the villagers dance around the Wicker Man as Edward Woodward burns within it, in the film of that title.
I’m surprised that this is a debut EP and that they’d previously only released two songs. They have a quality which suggests they’ve been around at a high level for a long time.
8/10
D. Henry (Denmark) – Anything can happen (single)
“Anything can happen in the next half-hour” as they used to say in Thunderbirds. Or was it Stingray?
Anyway, this one has been sat in the in-tray for a couple of weeks now while I tried to get my ahead around the difference between Dan Østerby and D. Henry.
It turns out that they are one and the same, the former singing in Danish while the latter opts for English but gets quite a lot of airplay on Danish Radio.
He also tells me that ‘Anything can happen’ is a duet, featuring Maja Thora but unfortunately I can’t track down any information on her.
That’s pretty much all I can say, information is scant but the song struck a chord with me straight away. It’s chirpy, upbeat, engaging, well-structured in the verse/chorus department with well chosen instrumentation that fits the mood of the song perfectly. Quite delightful.
It is easy listening but with purpose. Imagine ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ performed by the Beautiful South.
Anything can happen, including this song charting in the UK if a national radio jock picks it up.
8/10
Find them on:
(Britli Trio):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094391367168
(D. Henry/Dan Østerby):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danoesterbymusik
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhenrymusic/
