Adjágas

“Rievdadeapmi” means “change” in one of the ten Saami dialects that Adjágas uses on this delicate and poised debut album. It is the name of a song composed by 24-year-old Lawra Somby, and it describes traditions that “remain, yet (are) transformed”. “Can the same water flow through the river twice?” he asks in the lyrics of this beautiful lullaby that combines his voice with the crystalline vocals of 21-year-old Marielle Gaup. To an extent, these words sum up the giant leap Adjágas have made in their music: from the age-old yoiking that Somby’s father taught him to the “musical landscape painting” of this duo, there is leap years of cultural assimilation and transition. As Gaup puts it: “I am still myself, but different/ Change is the only thing that does not change”.

This self-titled debut album is a deeply personal acknowledgement of this inexorable revolution. Yet its minimalist approach and subtlety promotes an optimistic vision of the Saami culture in contemporary music. The Artic tundra might be melting as the ozone layer disappears, it has not yet clouded the silky dreamworld of this pair. “The night reveals the sun’s warmth,” sings Lawra Somby, “Looks forward to the new day”. These chants, called yoiks, recreate the uplifting power of the wind; the honour of the South Saami from which the two singers come; the mysteries of nature; and the predictability of weather patterns. The artists conjure these images with refinement and a gentleness that breathe life into the vast polar landscape along the Norway-Finland frontier.

Still, Gaup and Sonby do not shy away from the harsh realities their community faces. The song “Guoros Fatnasat”, or “Empty Boats” seems to depict the end of a way of life, as rivers fill with tears and the Saami abandon their fishing traditions. “Many empty boats and orphaned paddle floats, waiting (…) The tear dies, the river empties / It doesn’t help, you must do it yourself.” And so this duo does. Their heartfelt and allusive style touches a chord that transcends linguistic and cultural barriers. It will remind some of Indian ragas and other of native North American chants. But it should most of all bring listeners closer to Scandinavia’s unique scenery and the delicate balance between its people’s spiritual world and the nature that surrounds it.

April 2007

Daniel Brown

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