Continuing with our Valentine’s weekend we welcome a band from the city of Tampere in Finland that was formed in 2023.
Lilith & the Wildflowers (Finland) – Tattoo (single)
Lilith & the Wildflowers are from Finland but the press release was in Swedish. Perhaps there’s some crossover there? Did you know Helsinki has a Swedish quarter? Just one of the useless bits of information you get from NMC!
I’m attracted to anything with Lilith in the title. The first Nordic music festival I ever visited featured someone who has become a mainstay of this publication, Sweden’s Resmiranda, singing about Lilith from the Wardrobe, referencing the biblical folklore creature who was Adam’s first wife but who refused to submit to his will, thus becoming the original feminist. To be followed of course by the original sinners.
Not forgetting Peter Gabriel’s ‘Lilywhite Lilith’, a demonic personality that led his character Rael through the tunnel of night in Genesis’ ‘The Lamb lies down on Broadway’.
But I digress.
Lilith & The Wildflowers identify themselves as an international gothic indie rock band blending dark, atmospheric melodies with raw energy and exploring themes of love and heartbreak. So they should be in their element right now.
Indeed, ‘Tattoo’ is on their own admission an anti-Valentine’s Day tribute that “hovers between love and hate, blurred by the blindness of passion…that makes it impossible to let go.” The temperature’s going up already.
Like a tattoo, the emotional chaos is carved into your past. Yep, they’re pesky little things, aren’t they?
Love knows no boundaries here. Singer Deniz Kirci, who seems to walk into the studio from the one next door around the 30-second mark, observes “I know you cut me off, I want to do the same”. Just for a moment I thought she’d sung “cut me up” and that she was upping the ante on Ingrid Helene Håvik’s infamous opening lines to ‘Marianna.’
She’s at her best towards the end when the tempo ramps up, the momentum builds towards boiling point and she gives the impression she could belt a lot harder than this if the circumstances demanded it. The line “I want to cut you off but you’re like a tattoo” is choice and is followed by the screamed coup de grace, “I want to cut you”.
Looks like a quite night in watching the telly isn’t on the menu tonight.
The song is held together musically by a simple shoegazy five note guitar riff that will embed itself in your skull better than any tattoo on your skin does.
While they have their own very distinctive style I was reminded of several other artists and bands from across the spectrum as well as Ingrid, including Polly Scattergood for the gothic innate darkness and even Blondie, for the power of that riff and of Deniz’s vocal accomplishment.
I’m tempted to quip “Oh Deniz ooh be doo, I’m in love with you” but that would be stretching the Valentine connection too far!
They’re very much an international band too; two Finns, a Briton (notice I don’t use that horrible Brit word) and a Turk (from the Republic of Türkiye – we keep up with events in NMC!)
They are still a fairly young band; this is only their third single. Much about this one tells me that they will be raising Finland’s standing in the international popular music stakes even more in the months and years to come.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560793545696
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilithandthewildflowers/
