Like the great roots of an ancient tree, Kati Rán’s musical world is vast. Over the nine years it took to create, the Dutch Nordic folk artist’s second album SÁLA saw her travel overseas to source rare historical instruments, spend hundreds of hours learning ancient languages and converse with academics to uncover an even deeper understanding of what inspires her most - Norse mythology. “It’s been a long time in the making,” she admits with a wry chuckle.
SÁLA (Old Norse for ‘soul’ and ‘sea’) is a rich tapestry of cinematic, oceanic soundscapes and multilingual folk melodies derived from poetry, ancient texts and spellcraft, flanked by Rán’s playing of numerous historical instruments. The gorgeously meditative Stone Pillars features the use of a lava stone marimba, a percussive instrument similar to a xylophone, which was obtained from a stonemason in Iceland.
