Shadows of Voices, Strings and Pulse
Willemark brings Setesdal's folk roots into conversation with contemporary improvisation, neither folk nor jazz but genuinely both.
Stemmenes Skygge marks Willemark's emergence as a bandleader and conceptual artist, a deliberate step beyond her work as a traditional folk singer grounded in Setesdal culture. Rather than abandon that foundation, she builds on it—inviting Marilyn Mazur on percussion to create a dialogue between Scandinavian vocal tradition and free improvisation. This is not a folk album dressed up in jazz language, nor a jazz record dabbling in folk aesthetics. The strings and voice move through space that Mazur's percussion opens up, sometimes propulsive, sometimes sparse, always conversational. Willemark's voice carries the weight of her training in traditional singing but operates here without the formal constraints of folk performance. She sings in Norwegian, letting language become texture as much as meaning. Mazur's approach is characteristically spacious—she listens as much as she drives, placing sounds into the ensemble's gaps rather than filling them. The album sits comfortably in neither camp, which is precisely its point. For listeners already familiar with Willemark's silversmith precision and her deep connection to Setesdal's musical inheritance, Stemmenes Skygge feels like a natural expansion: the same careful attention to craft and detail, now applied to real-time collaboration and the risks of improvisation. It's not her most accessible record, but it's among her most honest.
Who's playing
Marilyn Mazurpercussion
Lena Willemarkstrings
