Coming from a Sámi reindeer-herding family from the far-northern border of Finland and Norway, Ánnámáret embodies the ancient tradition of Sámi yoiking, invoking the ancestral spirits of the natural world and the people whose survival has depended on a deep respect for their environment. On her album, Nieguid duovdagat (Dreamscapes), she expands the tradition, taking inspiration from archive recordings of her grandfather while assimilating the vibrations of electronic sounds and the polytonality of the jouhikko (Finnish bowed lyre), creating a compelling storyboard of dense musicality. Her Dreamscapes band includes jouhikko virtuoso, Ilkka Heinonen and electronics manipulator, Turkka Inkilä, with live visual scene-setting from video artist, Marja Viitahuhta. Joiks seek to connect to the sacred essence of all living things and Ánnámáret’s expressive voice and commanding presence convey that vital intuitive communication to an increasingly disconnected world.
Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman yoik vocals
Ilkka Heinonen Finnish bowed lyre jouhikko
Turkka Inkilä electronics, shakuhachi
Marja Viitahuhta video artist