From Svart Record’s website, “Dutch artist and Nordic folk pioneer Kati Rán is set to release her long-awaited full-length album, “SÁLA” on Svart Records in May 2024. Embarking on a far-reaching musical and personal travelogue, "SÁLA" a reawakening of both the feminine narratives submerged and fragmented within Norse mythology, and the enduring, healing powers held within.” The album has 13 songs, and “SÁLA” is first. The sounds is tender, solemn, and sweet, and keyboards fill in the background nicely, along with vocal harmonies. “HEFRING” is shorter, but no less personal. Handclaps are used along with other traditional folk instruments to tell a dark tale that is mysterious in nature to the listener.

“BLODBYLGJE” is longest on the album, clocking in at 15 minutes. The sound brings up images of native people performing morning rituals in their huts as a thunderstorm broods above. There is something that is just peaceful about the image for me. “STONE PILLARS” is darker, and more tense, and it’s obvious that Kati has a way with emotions in her music. You can feel each note, each passage, and everything in between. It is pensive, thoughtful, and dreamy. “DÚFA | Sleeping” is a short song that connects some of the longer ones together, and it features recorder, as well as some backing elements, along with her dark, mysterious vocals. “UNNR | Mindbeach” has a steady sound from a rhythmic drum beat and harmonized vocals. If you let yourself be swept away with the music here, you may never return, but somehow you don’t care.

“HIMINGLÆVA” has deeper, and sadder tones, and she sings in English, trading the vocal parts with a male voice. It’s a simple sound, but the melodies are so enthralling, you can feel them in your bones. “HRÖNN” has delicate but powerful tones at the same time, and it quite catchy. “SEGIÐ MÉR” has a full on sound with shouted vocals and a heavier backbone. The drum beat is steady, the vocals have effects in them, and again, there is a lot of tension here. The pensive “SÁTTA” closes the album, and it brings the listener back to earth with a steady, even-keeled hum, ending on a pleas, “come back to me.” It could be that her native language is responsible for much of the mystery on the album, or it could be the music itself. I feel it is both, working together as well as they do to bring subtlety and secrecy to the album.