With just four pumps of the harmonium, Garmarna vocalist Emma Härdelin, Hoven Droven fiddler Kjell-Erik Eriksson, and harmonium player Janne Strömstedt unleash "Old Sara," a taut, stark-naked dirge that serves as the leadoff track to their wondrous self-titled debut for Northside Records. Triakel tackle traditional Scandinavian folk music with a reverence that belies their youth, bringing to mind Shirley and Dolly Collins' arrangements of English folk songs in the '50s and '60s. Härdelin's round, throaty wonder of a voice wraps itself around each and every word like candle wax, preserving the melody beneath a blanket of lilting vowels and rolling Rs. Like all good traditional sets, this one focuses on the genre's most common themes: love, murder, sex, and madness. That this talented group can deliver these pieces with such a remarkable blend of gentleness and fury -- using only three instruments -- is truly a feat. One needs only to listen to a few seconds of "In Paradise" or "Birthday Party" to be completely immersed. By the time the listener arrives at the icy closer, "Fair Young Love," the warm center of this trio's debut begins to glow brighter, and the vastness of Triakel's seemingly simple vision is revealed.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo