For centuries, spiritual singing was an inseparable part of everyday life of mankind. It accompanied the course of day, course of life and course of year and acted as a kind of measure to keep in touch with the flow of time. There were songs to sleep and wake by, pray for God‘s mercy in all situations possible and maintain a harmonious and modest life. These songs travelled through Europe mostly with the help of protestant pastors and songbooks, but blended into local folk heritage in every parish. Different versions of well-known chorales create a unifying web across Western culture while maintaining a distinct, irreplicable voice of the isolated communities. These songs, either straight from songbooks or transcribed during field trips by scholars of early 20th century, are the core of this album. 

Layers, so to speak, of spiritual singing reach seamlessly from Estonia, across the Swedish-speaking areas of Estonia to mainland Sweden and Norway, overseas to Iceland, making a stop at good old England where similar cultural processes took place a little earlier. Latin hymns translate into local languages, blend into folk tradition, get picked up again, make their way into art music directly or indirectly and become a source of inspiration once again. We encounter these songs in an environment where boundaries between social classes, styles of music, scenes and venues get blurred over and over, each time according to a whole different logic. We break a few canons, clichés and customs by approaching spiritual hymns with modern equipment, still making the vocals sound natural, timeless and unprocessed, vulnerable and enlightened. In our arrangements, we are aware of the tradition but treat the material with playfulness and a slight sense of irresponsibility. This is the layer we add to the heritage that has shaped our identities as individuals and nations, keeping the very core of human knowledge and spiritual existence alive and relevant. 

1 Nüüd hingvad inimesed
2 Bred dina vida vingar
3 Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
4 Hátíð fer af höndum ein
5 There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue
6 Gjendines bådnlåt
7 In the Bleak Midwinter
8 Nú kemur heimsins hjálparráð
9 Nüüd südant, inimene
10 Jeesus kõige ülem hää
11 Kes Jumalat nii laseb teha
12 Oh Jeesus, Sinu valu
13 Ma vaatan üles mäele
14 Kas sureb nii mu kõige armsam elu
15 Su hooleks ennast annan ma
16 Nú er á himni og jörð
17 The Snow it Melts the Soonest

Release date: October 23, 2026
UPC: 053479705105

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