Hilde Marie Kjersem - A Killer For That Ache (2008)

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Rune Grammofon suggest that this debut long-player by Hilde Marie Kjersem is “neither a jazz album nor your typical melancholy Nordic singer songwriter album”, and certainly, anyone expecting something along the lines of the label’s other prominent female songwriter, Susannnna (& The Magical orchestra) Wallumrod will find Kjersem to be a rather different prospect. While her delicate, calmly articulate voice is comparable in its hushed loveliness, musically this is a slightly more volatile experience. Early on you’ll think you’ve settled into a fairly mainstream pop groove with ballads like ‘Mary Full Of Grace’ and the minimal, autoharp anti-lullaby ‘Sleepyhead’. But oddness is just around the corner, as on the slightly bizarre ‘Marie Antoinette’. Next up, the multitracked acappella of the title track (and later on, ‘Save Up’) proves to be incredibly pretty, but the abstract electronic drum contortions of ‘London Bridge’ and the Roobarb & Custard basslines of ‘Catching A Star’ prevent Kjersem from coming across as too delicate. BOOMKAT