Label: Celinka
Release date: 01.10.2018
Production: Êdna & Peter Ošlaj
Album length: 43.11 min
Genre: Folk / Pop / Jazz
Edna are yet another band from the wide-open expanse of Slovenia’s rich treasure trove of blending genre challenges with the heritage of traditional folk melos. When it comes to this craft, we Slovenes are real masters, and it’s downright incredible that, in an already densely packed field of Slovenian acts, there’s still room to anchor newer and newer artists who guarantee musical originality with a recognizable, truly their-own, expressive character. Among those “adventurers” who sound very “homey” to the general Slovenian ear and, given all of the above, not at all surprisingly, we can now also count Edna.
This new quintet from Prekmurje, made up of experienced musicians, is devoted to crossing traditional folk songs from Prekmurje and Porabje, which in their musical vision they dress up into a fresh musical conglomerate, delivering a new, hugely interesting and different musical product to the scene.
The lineup is united around its guiding mind, driving engine and main visionary, or rather visionary-ess, Tjaša Cigut, who also takes on lead vocal duties and plays piano. Interestingly, the band doesn’t need a classic drummer at all; Edna get it all done with rhythmic sensibility, aesthetics and the clear punch of a tight interplay between the percussion, double bass and guitar phrasing in the accompaniment. Loosening up the lead motifs, you’ve got the woodwinds (recorders, saxophones) on one side and the minimalist embellishments of the electric piano on the other, which lifts the dynamics as the songs develop.
The sensitive Tjaša Cigut is an exceptionally refined vocalist. She weaves some soul rhetoric into her vocal lines, which stirs the songs up and steers them away from predictable development (Pika pouka). In the lyrics she’s kept the authentic dialects of Prekmurje and Porabje, one of the most important elements through which Edna approach the listener, tempting enough to keep them constantly interested in how the album “Ajnc, cvaj, draj” unfolds. Especially because the familiar folk lyrics are repackaged in a teasingly adventurous way, through the refined craft of experimental genre blending, where folk elements, world music elements, pop elements (almost a must – the album certainly doesn’t lack appeal for radio airwaves), jazz cabaret, and even swing and Latin rhythms all meet. The whole thing, the idea behind the quintet’s artistic creativity, culminates in building an interesting bridge that joins old and new in a completely unusual and unique way. So on their debut, Edna achieve exactly what they set out to do: find themselves, find their own recognizable identity, and ground it in musical substance that has found its place on the studio debut.
Edna can be cheeky, playful and full of life, as hinted at in the album’s lead single Pika pouka, the title track, or in Ljubček moj, but they also know how to cast over all of that the famous melancholy of the Prekmurje plains, the kind that squeezes you and shakes you up (the opening Črne oči). That “something” that gives Prekmurje albums (generally speaking) a clear distinctiveness and authenticity and is therefore all the more attractive.
The album feels organic, alive, very compact and masterfully arranged. The chemistry of a well-oiled quintet that’s tuned in to each other is present throughout and unmistakably stamped on everything. These are excellent musicians who, even in the space between verses and choruses, speak to you with great musical accessibility, because even in the instrumental passages the quintet never falls into possible improv escapades, but subordinates every arranging move to the tight, compact musicality of the songs.
The album “Ajnc, cvaj, draj” throws the doors wide open for the band to concert stages. It speaks in a special and inviting way, but the musical substance of the studio debut grabs and touches the listener even more when they meet it at the band’s live shows. Edna are certainly a band you simply have to hear live. The studio debut bursts at the seams with all the authentic organic liveliness it has captured, and at gigs that sonic character is magnified even further. The album “Ajnc, cvaj, draj” is thus an exceptionally bold opening step into a new, wonderfully beautiful and fun musical story from a very talented and experienced team of five musicians.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Tracklist:
!. Črne oči
2. Rejzka
3. Ljubček moj
4. Lejpa naša domovina
5. Pika pouka
6. Pravo sem ti
7. Ajnc, cvaj, draj
8. Bila, bila deklina
9. Črne oči (dolga verzija)
Lineup:
Tjaša Cigut – vocals, piano
Jasmona Dajčman – saxophone, recorder, backing vocals
Luka Sraka – guitar
Luka Ščavničar – double bass, backing vocals
Blaž Korez – percussion
