Imagine if Martin Hayes played traditional Norwegian tunes on a hardanger fiddle, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this spare and electrifyingly beautiful disc from fiddler Sturla Eide Sundli and guitarist/bouzouki player Andreas Aase. There’s the same preference for stately, elegant tempos and for straightforward arrangements that showcase the tune more than the player. And there is also a similar rhythmic intelligence at work — an ability to swing, hop, and sway without recourse to any kind of percussion instrument or over-reliance on pounding backbeats in the accompaniment. Aase spends a fair amount of time simply laying out, letting Sundli dance away with the tune for long stretches before gently reeling him in with a few graceful treble notes or a hearty but tasteful string of chord pulses. Highlights on this wonderful album include a long and intricate arrangement of “St. Anne’s Reel” that segues into a similar Norwegian tune in a dignified, strathspey-ish rhythm, and the slow and heartbreakingly beautiful “Gilde.” While some may find the unrelenting trebliness of the sound to get a bit overbearing after a while, there really is nothing less than thoroughly lovely on this album. – Rick Anderson
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