Confident and considered Norwegian Americana.
Norwegian Americana is alive and well and is firmly embodied in Malin Pettersen whose new album ‘Wildflower’ is a follow-up to her delightful 2020 album ‘Wildhorse’. The first thing that hits you when listening is the sheer quality and clarity of her voice: it is simply beautiful. She can bend it from pure country to a more poppy side and is equally adept at both. It is more than enhanced by a great, yet simple, production, which she created herself.
The Country (and almost Western) side springs to life in the quirky ‘Fold out Chair’ with a sound that comes straight out of the Nashville playbook. It begins with a quirky little keyboard and drums but quickly takes you into the heart of the Grand Ole Opry, complete with a genuine, mandatory slide guitar lick. That is followed by a slow burner ‘Death By Space’ which is unusually about the articles in space coming together into formations. Such is the enjoyment of this album, it is very difficult to pin down, which makes it a very entertaining listen indeed. Each track is very distinctive in feel, pace and subject matter.
With the current popularity of CMAT, ‘Wildflower’ places Pettersen in a very similar category. She is someone very comfortable with herself and portrays this through the confidence in her music. She explains, “After having been on musical adventures both geographically – in Nashville with Wildhorse – and metaphorically – with the genre-crossing Trouble Finding Words – we end up in a ‘full circle’ moment where everything I’ve learned, from the early days in the studio as a solo artist until today, comes into play. This album is about creating something intuitively, in the moment, in the room. With all the musical baggage you bring into the studio. Without overthinking or analysing.”
This is a well-written, nicely produced and beautifully sung record, all the elements which make it a must-listen to collection with something for everyone.
