• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Spellbinding Music

Genre-bending & spine-tingling

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Lau Nau: Poseidon

December 28, 2020 By guillaume

Laura Naukkarinen – aka Lau Nau – is a Finnish singer songwriter and composer based in Kimito, Finland, 160km west of Helsinki. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, devoted sound designer and record collector, Lau Nau seamlessly blends elements of Finnish folk with modern classical, ambient and experimental music using both acoustic and electronic instruments in the creative process.

A prolific recording artist, Lau Nau has appeared on dozens of improvisation, experimental and electronic releases in the last 15 years with various bands and ensembles. She has also scored extensively for silent films, feature films, theatre and sound installations. Released on Fonal Records (Finland) and Beacon Sound (Portland, OR) on 17 November 2017 last, Poseidon is Laura Naukkarinen’s fifth album as Lau Nau.

Lau Nau - Poseidon (2017)
Lau Nau – Poseidon (2017)

The six songs and five instrumentals – all piano-based – on Poseidon are performed with the support of a small ensemble of long-time collaborators including Helena Espvall on cello, Swedish composer Matti Bye on piano and keyboards, Samuli Kosminen on harmonium, percussion, guitar and kalimba, Pekko Käppi on the jouhikko (a traditional three-stringed Finnish bowed lyre) and Antti Tolvi on alto clarinet.

No one can see us except owls and moths
For the rest this play is just a dream.
Poseidon greets us, veils us in fog
Blindfolded we’ll search on for the loveliest spot.

Singing in her native Finnish, Laura Naukkarinen conjures a chimerical and impermanent world set in idyllic snow-covered, windswept and wooded landscapes inhabited by forest spirits, birds and insects. Concerned with a constant search for a hide-away, a home or a shelter, Lau Nau’s songs alternate between the whimsical and the ordinary, “by turns ghostly and earthy”.

Hand-crafted, arranged for slow-paced ballads, lullabies and waltzes and deliberately recorded without the use of a metronome to preserve a natural rhythm, Poseidon constantly treads “the fleeting borderline between contemporary classical and experimental music” with its ethereal blend of electronic textures and acoustic instrumentation. The combination of chiming sounds – the Celesta with its glockenspiel vibe – strings (cello and bowed lyre) and voice fashion an idiosyncratic floating soundscape both rooted in Nordic lore and avant-garde aesthetics. 

Fonal Records · Lau Nau: Poseidon

Mastered by ambient composer and producer Rafael Anton Irisarri, Poseidon is a fantastic introduction to Laura Naukkarinen’s artistic and sonic sensibility. Since then, Lau Nau composed the original score for Gerard Mannix Flynn’s Irish documentary Land Without God (2019) as well as an instrumental soundtrack for Lotta Petronella’s film Själö – Island of Souls (2020) released on Fonal Records. On 3 July 2020 last, Beacon Sound released a limited edition of Live in Röykkälä as a cassette tape. The stripped-down live concert was captured near the singer’s home place in Southern Finland with Laura Naukkarinen on vocals, guitar and keyboards.

Finally, Lau Nau and Swedish composer Matti Bye can be heard on their latest collaborative effort Signals (Time Released Sound – 2 October 2020), a series of ambient improvisations for acoustic piano and live electronic treatments.

https://launau.com/

You May Also Like:

  • Christine Ott: Only Silence RemainsChristine Ott: Only Silence Remains
  • Marika Hackman: We Slept At LastMarika Hackman: We Slept At Last
  • Paddy Mulcahy: The Words She SaidPaddy Mulcahy: The Words She Said
  • Slow Moving Clouds: StarfallSlow Moving Clouds: Starfall
  • Midori Hirano: Invisible IslandMidori Hirano: Invisible Island
  • Peter Broderick: All Together AgainPeter Broderick: All Together Again

Filed Under: Contemporary, Folk, Modern Classical Tagged With: ambient, electro, Lau Nau, songwriting

Subscribe to Spellbinding Music

Never miss a post and subscribe to Spellbinding Music via email. Receive weekly and enchanting musical updates straight into your inbox - and it's free!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About

Spellbinding Music is a blog which curates contemporary, modern classical, roots, electronic, jazz and folk music…and everything in between. ... [Continue Reading]

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Most Read this week

Follow via Email

Search

Recent Posts

Yumi Ito - Stardust Crystals (2020)

Yumi Ito: Stardust Crystals

Stéphane Tsapis - Le Piano Oriental (2019)

Stéphane Tsapis: Le Piano Oriental

Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders (2020)

Mary Lattimore: Silver Ladders

Azu Tiwaline - Draw Me A Silence (2020)

Azu Tiwaline: Draw Me A Silence/Magnetic Service

Hania Rani - Home (2020)

Hania Rani: Home

Ben Lukas Boysen - Mirage (2020)

Ben Lukas Boysen: Spells/Mirage

Before Footer

Birds on a Wire - Ramages (2020)
Nadah El Shazly - Ahwar (2017)
Brigid Mae Power - Head Above the Water (2020)
Anna Mieke - Idle-Mind (2019)
Conor Walsh - The-Lucid (2019) - artwork © Louise Gaffney
Seán Mac Erlaine - Music for Empty Ears (2018) - Artwork © Distinctive Repetition
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (2018)

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 Spellbinding Music | Website by Pagecrafted

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.