“Ancient heritage meets global influences, contemporary expression and modern production.” That’s a pretty good description for a lot of the music we review here at GMR, but it applies particularly well to the Finnish vocal quartet Tuuletar. Maamo (Mother Earth) is a wide ranging album that covers all of those bases in its 10 varied tracks.
All four of the women of Tuuletar — Venla Ilona Blom, Sini Koskelainen, Johanna Kyykoski and Piia Säilynoja — sing and do vocal effects and percussion, and Blom does some beatboxing as well. Much credit also goes to Chris Juengel of Chris Juengel Liquid 5th Productions for recording and production. If you know the music of Värttinä you have some idea of what Tuuletar sounds like. And if you happen to have watched Game of Thrones on DVD, you may have heard their stirring, atmospheric “Alku” on the Season 7 trailer. One track from this album, “Hyvänyön loitsu (The Goodnight Spell)” was included on the Nordic Notes/CPI-Music compilation Folk and World Music Galore Vol. 4 that I reviewed recently.
That’s the second track, but before we get to that raucous, danceable song, “Kajatesi” serves as a lovely a capella introduction. The other song that’s nearly purely a capella is the penultimate track, the lilting waltz “Kieluvainen.” Along the way there’s a certain amount of variety in the arrangements and production. Some of the songs are closer to pop, like “Kylvö” (The Sowing), with its martial rhythm played on the trap set, and the very danceable “Kevään kajo” (The Glow of Spring) with some electronic touches; the soft ballads “Kuule” (Listen) with a dramatic multi-layered vocal climax, and the ethereal “Gèile” (Gale) with solo lead vocals in English.
“Äitimaa” (Mother Earth) and “Heponi mun / Mój koń nieborak” (My horse) are both very engaging. The former leads with a shuffling rhythm and call and response vocals, with a blend of world music vocal stylings that range from yoik through pop jazz á la Bobby McFerrin to a coda that calls to mind Johnny Clegg. The latter features an extremely catchy tune, lead vocals by guest Joanna Słowińska, galloping tempo, clattery percussion, and neighing sounds from the women of Tuuletar.
(Nordic Notes, 2026)
