SVER
Album: Fryd
Label: Folkhall Records
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.sverfolk.com/en/

Over the last few years there has been an increasing amount of interaction & collaboration between Scottish Folk musicians and their Scandinavian counterparts resulting in several excellent projects. What more more surprising, perhaps, is that more Scandinavian folk has made its way across the North Sea on the back of these partnerships.

One band that hopes to act as ambassadors though, is Norwegian/ Swedish group Sver who are hoping their latest release called Fryd will increase their fan base in the British Isles.

Two members of Sver, Olav Luksengård Mjelva and Anders Hall, may already familiar to UK Folk fans as two thirds of Nordic Fiddlers Bloc along with Shetlander Kevin Henderson.

Sver was formed in 2002 by Mjelva on Violin and Hardanger Fiddle with fellow Norwegian Leif Ingvar Ranøien on Two Row Accordion. In 2008 they were joined by Hall on Violin and Viola & his Swedish compatriot Jens Linell on drums, tambourine and old suitcase. The current quintet is completed by Adam Johansson on guitar.

Fryd, which translates as Joy, is Sver's third album and consists of 11 instrumental tracks, 10 original compositions and one traditional Norwegian tune.

Most of the tracks on this CD are written by Mjelva and, right from the start, he whisks you off to the far north, painting better images with music than some acts manage to do with words. The opening tune, Lompa Koyre Traktor & weaves images of the farmer Lompa out in his fields enjoying using his new tractor. From there we are transported into the local village hall, where Sver are providing the entertainment. The album's title track comes next and the joy in the name is all too apparent as the music conjures images of dancers swirling round the floor before collapsing, exhausted, at the end of the tune.

The frenetic pace is kept up with the next track. Ruf, which Olav composed for the Røros youth folk band & Sver subsequently "borrowed". Ruf also features Kjell-Erik Eriksson from Hoven Droven making a guest appearance on fiddle.

For the next couple of tunes the tempo descends to a relatively more sedate pace, firstly with a Jens Linell composition, Falsk Vals or False Waltz, and then Sumarkveld I Nivlheim or A Summer Evening In Niflheim. For those who are not familiar with Norse mythology Nivlheim is a world of ice and cold, ruled over by the cruel dragon Nidhogg and was one of the two worlds to exist before the beginning of time, the other being Muspelheim. Given this, the pleasant evening conjured by the music seems rather unlikely.

At this dance, though, the respite is all too brief & the revellers are dragged back to the dance floor by the next tune, Total Carnage, which was inspired by the Orkney Folk Festival. Next up is, for me, the standout track on Fryd. Måsså Ti Nåsså or Moss In The Nose is a compelling fusion of traditional Norwegian folk music & elements of Jazz, even throwing in some Scat singing for good measure

From there, we go to one of the band's favourite Traditional tunes, the only one to appear on Fryd, Fuggeln, or The Bird, which originates from the Hallingdal area of Norway. Apparently Fuggeln is a guy who looks like a bird, rather than an actual one.

As Fryd draws to a close, there is still time for a couple of slightly more sedate dances, firstly Mysoxen. Or The Cosy Ox & then the second tune on the album titled in English, Bow In The Eye, surely an occupational hazard for anyone who performs with a fiddle player.

The final track on Fryd is another Jens Linell composition, called Sova, or Sleep, a suitably chilled ending reflecting our revellers journey home after their evenings entertainment.

Sver is obviously a group of five talented musicians and the chemistry between the individual members, coupled with some skilled composition, has produced an album that, while not being exactly traditional, is most definitely of the Scandinavian folk tradition. If you want an album where the music paints some wonderful pictures whilst defying you not to get up and dance then I can't recommend Fryd by Sver highly enough.

Dave Chamberlain