Harhailua (2009)

**BOOMKAT EXCLUSIVE!** Hannu’s sublime debut album ‘Worms In My Piano’ tapped into a rich vein of delicately abstract electronic music spearheaded by the likes of Colleen and Hannu’s compatriots on Fonal – most notably Es, whose rough-edged loops and folksy otherness found a kindred spirit. This new album for the excellent Kesh label takes the agenda a step further into loveliness, embracing harps, glockenspiels, and all manner of frost-dappled samples, evoking a wintry wonderland filmed in Super-8, full of grains and vintage production quirks. It’s often the simplicity of these arrangements that makes them so successful: the combination of mysterious field recordings and elegaic horns on ‘Kautta Aikan’ brings to mind the haunted songs of Lau Nau or perhaps even Mùm at their best, while ‘Masseudun Tulevaisuus’ is an unruly patchwork combining scratchy instrumental snippets – like a Lucky Pierre album conceived in Moominvalley. Taking the music in a slightly different direction, ‘Hyyris’ and ‘Hakolahti’ embrace electronic beats, but retain that endearingly decrepit sound that characterises the rest of the album, perhaps recalling Kim Hiorthoy’s early homespun emissions. An absolutely gorgeous and atmospheric assemblage of electronic songs that’s sure to find great resonance in the snowy climes of this February, a massive recommendation.

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