With origins buried deep in the Finnish-Karelian folk imagination, it is said to have been first built by Väinämöinen, the mythical shaman/hero of the Kalevala, from the jawbone of a giant pike.
----------------------
In a catalogue perhaps better known for its out-there heavy metal, seismic noise-rock and overall outsider sonic extremities, Soitimella arrives like a hush in a whirlwind, a solemn breath of air echoing through the iron-aged pine. Released by Jussi Lehtisalo’s Ektro Records, this singular recording unites varying players of the Finnish kantele – Heikki Laitinen, Martti Pokela, and Hannu Saha.
The kantele is no ordinary stringed instrument. With origins buried deep in the Finnish-Karelian folk imagination, it is said to have been first built by Väinämöinen, the mythical shaman/hero of the Kalevala, from the jawbone of a giant pike. The oldest forms of kantele had just five strings and were said to be played by shepherds, ritualists, and wanderers. Their songs were neither entertainment nor spectacle – they were meditations and acts of remembering. The kantele in its nature hardly demands attention; it rewards stillness.
Heikki Laitinen, a mercurial force in Finnish experimentalism, was also a researcher and professor, committed to expanding the boundaries of what Finnish folk music could mean. Martti Pokela, by contrast, was a traditionalist par excellence, revered for reviving the kantele in post-war Finland and elevating its status to a national treasure. Hannu Saha, a key figure in the Folk Music Institute of Finland, straddled the academic and performative realms, documenting and playing with equal force.
In releasing Soitimella, Ektro makes a quietly radical move: it insists that the avant does not always shout. Sometimes it returns to the roots, not to preserve them, but to hear what they are still trying to tell. Equally for enjoyers of both Alio Die and David Roden, but also of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou and Daniel Schmidt. You can file it next to silence. Or next to the rustle of reeds. Or next to nothing at all.
Juho Toivonen,
May 2025
