The Half-Finished Heaven

A combination only ECM could have conceived of, here we have Sinikka Langeland, queen of the kantele (Finnish table harp), violist Lars Anders Tomter, saxophonist Trygve Seim, and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. Langeland’s original songs honor Nordic folk traditions, drawing on influences ranging from the naturalist poetry of Tomas Tranströmer to the mythologies that populate her own songs with animals, energies of the earth, and leafless trees. The psaltery-like quality of the kantele, in tandem with the atmospheric improvisations of the others assembled, emphasizes the sensual authority of her storytelling.