Teija Niku
That’s amply illustrated on her composition “Finsko Dajchovo,” inspired by the Bulgarian folk dance rhythm, a loving creation that moves sprightly and gracefully, or “Seitsemän,” taking its cue from Macedonian love songs. The bright, springlike melody, light, full of promise and hope could have been written for eager dancing feet. Everywhere, Niku displays her acute sense of melody. “Elokuu,” a celebration of the late summer lights of August, is a lilting, wistful piece, yet tinged with shades of melancholy for the winter to come, a masterful evocation of shifting moods.
While the influence of Balkan music hovers over Tovi (the title, according to Niku, translates as “an undefined bit of time, somewhere between a moment and a while”), a Nordic sensibility remains very much at its heart, with a couple of soaring polskas to move things briskly along, in a contrast to the brief, shadowy, brooding opener “Ohto.”
But the real heart of the disc comes at the very end, with “Poloneesi äidille,” a piece Niku composed for her mother’s 70th birthday, three years before she died. It’s a soft, elegiac work that suddenly becomes transcendent as she begins to sing, You can hear that this performance is completely from the heart, and it is a beautiful way to finish. Now to hope that it’s not such a long gap before she’s back in the studio.
Further listening: Search RootsWorld
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It’s been a lengthy wait for the fourth album from Finnish accordionist Teija Niku, but she’s hardly been idle over the last few years. Between the pandemic, giving birth, and the death of her mother, her time has been filled. But the long pause makes this return all the sweeter, with its joyful exploration of the places where the music of her homeland intersect with her deep love of Balkan music.
