I’ve come to look forward to the annual Folk and World Music Galore compilation from the German labels Nordic Notes and CPL-Music. The 2025 version of this comp, Vol. 4, is no exception, and even perhaps the best one yet, with 15 tracks from 15 acts, either culled from 2025 releases or advance singles from albums coming in 2026.
To keep this review from getting too long, I’ll note that I reviewed a couple of the releases represented on this comp in 2025: Uusikuu’s Piknik and the various artists’ compilation Nouse Luonto. Daryana is working on a review of the Bosnia and Hercegovina band Divanhana’s recent album Radio Sevdah, which celebrates the music that formerly issued forth from Radio Sarajevo. It’s a superb album. “Rijekama” is one of my favorite cuts on this compilation, and I eagerly await Daryana’s review!
Another favorite track is “Bayrak” by Elena Baklava, the stage name of Elena Hristova, a new artist to me. She and her band create contemporary folk music based on traditional Macedonian songs played on traditional instruments. This song, whose title means “Flag,” is from the 2025 CPL release Yorukluk, a follow-up to 2023’s highly regarded From Skopje With Love. With the Macedonian and Greek elements, you can hear lots of Turkish influence in this music.
I love the music of Swedish fiddler Lena Jonsson, and on the evidence of the single “Polska efter Johan Erik Taklax” her 2026 album with accordionist Johanna Juhola will be another favorite of mine. (I reviewed her trio album Elements on Hedgehog Music in 2023.) This song is just a classic polska whose sadly lilting melody utterly melts my heart.
The Finns love their flamenco, and Anna Murtola (also new to me) is one of the pioneers of the genre. Here she sings “Nana Tuutulaulu” with Jenni Venäläinen on kantele from an upcoming release, her second on Nordic Notes; the first, 2023’s La Tierra Blanca, was world music album of the year nominee by the German Record Critics group.
The most startlingly original sound on this record is “Albbas” (Lynx) from the Finnish vocalist Ulla Pirttijärvi and her group Aššu. Ulla sings in the Sami joik style, accompanied by Olav Torget and Kenneth Ekornes on string instruments and percussion, playing music inspired by West African grooves and Arabic traditions. It’s an utterly unexpected fusion that works surprisingly well. This song is from their 2025 album Luohteniegut.
In a more traditional vein but still very contemporary is the Finnish music of ENKEL, an ensemble made up of two melodeons, kantele, viola and four voices. The lovely “Ystävyys, lempi ja rakkaus” is a single from an upcoming release. If it’s anything like 2022’s Love Hurts, I’ll like it a lot.
Another standout traditional track is “Šun Devla” by the Slovakian singer Júlia Kozáková. It’s from 2025’s Manuša II, a follow up to Manuša, which was critically acclaimed following its release in 2022. The album similarly focuses on traditional Romni songs from Slovakia and Central Europe, a winning recipe of love, longing and melancholy with some truly catchy beats.
From the same part of the world comes Veronika Varga with a subtly moving solo album from late 2025, True Picture, which I’ll be reviewing soon. Varga accompanies herself on double bass as she sings traditional Hungarian, Balkan and Greek songs. The album’s opening track included here, “Liliomszál,” feels a bit out of place in its mostly spirited and rhythmic neighbors on this comp.
I also plan to review the January 2026 album Songbooks Live from the Belgian Baroque ensemble WÖR and the Swedish women’s vocal quartet Kongero. It’s another of those combinations that seems odd on paper but sounds great, as demonstrated by the track included here, which mashes up the Flemish tune “Edele Wijn” and the Swedish song “Skålen tillhör dig min vän.”
The rest of the disc’s selections lean more toward the contemporary end of the spectrum:
- Okra Playground’s “Varjon viemä” the first single from the Helsinki electro-folk band’s upcoming album, their follow up to 2023’s Itku. They combine swoon-worthy harmony vocals with traditional kantele and atmospheric electronics.
- Tuuletar’s club-ready “Hyvänyön loitsu.” Another Finnish electro-folk band, Tuuletar’s female vocalists combine Finnish and other Nordic folk traditions with heavy beats and electronic soundscapes.
- Vimma’s “Pestään kädet” from 2025’s Ei noi muut, successor to their critically acclaimed sophomore album Tornadon silmässä. This one continues the band’s strident progressive themes about the environment and other contemporary issues, delivered impressively by lead singer Eeva Rajakangas, but leans even more strongly into electro-folk with rock and rap elements.
- “Rudi’s” by the German cabaret rock band Gankino Circus’s 2025 release The Opposite of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Their albums and live act blend German folk, Balkan beats and Nordic sounds and more; this track adds jangly guitars and synth, and perhaps lots of compression for an ’80s college rock aura.
- Another German band, Kellerkommando, wraps up the disc with the very contemporary “Liebe ist nice.” Kellerkommando combines modern hip hop and pop with traditional Bavarian songs and brass.
You can stream and purchase Folk and World Music Galore Vol. 4 on the CPL-Music Bandcamp site and music by all of the artists there and on the Nordic Notes Bandcamp site.
(CPL-Music, 2025)
