A hardanger fiddle player from the fjord-and-mountain-filled region of Norway, where the instrument comes from, Benedicte Maurseth explores traditional music, nature and landscape influenced by the idea of ecosophy, a philosophy of ecological harmony. From childhood, she studied under master hardanger fiddler Knut Hamre, exploring the tunes, styles and effects associated with her instrument: its sympathetic strings, funnelled under the fingerboard, are particularly hypnotic, vibrating in response to the notes resonating above, as they do on the sitar and sarangi.
A follow-up to Maurseth’s 2022 Nordic music prize-winning Hárr, Mirra is named after an old dialect word describing wild reindeer running together in a circling pattern. Norwegian folk’s rhythmic repetitions feed Maurseth’s intricate compositions (as do the influences of minimalism and Krautrock), but the contributions of her bandmates, and the rustling textures of animal sounds, are also key. The bass and electronics of Mats Eilertsen and the melodic percussion of Håkon Stene suggest honks and heavy steps, especially in the jangling title track and the ominous Jaktmarsj (Hunting March). The tremulous Kvitkrull (Reindeer Lichen) is influenced by 1978 Canadian film Sámi Herders, while Nysnø Over Reinlav (Fresh Snow Over Reindeer Moss) includes field recordings of 13 animals, including gyrfalcons, whimbrels and wolverines, alongside producer Morten Qvenild’s fluttering piano.
