“Ulual YYY†is the third album by Islaja, the musical project of the Finnish Merja Kokkonen. And on the nine presented tracks she steadily continues her musical growth, which started already with her two previous albums. I was enthusiastic about her debut album “Meritie†(2004): Merja Kokkonen really knows her way with combinating fragile music and interesting experiments. However,on this debut Islaja sometimes got a bit lost in her own experimenting. On the second album “Palaa Aurinkoon†she found a good balance between song structure and experiment: all seems to fall in place.
And now with her third release “Ulual YYY†the lady with the beautiful voice also shows us that she knows how to write delightful songs. The creations on this new album have clear structures and are built up nicely. There is still enough room for some alienating pieces, but it is interesting to hear how Islaja is growing towards a real singer-songwriter.
Some very good examples are 'Pete P' and 'Varjakuvastin': the song structures almost make it possible to sing along. The absolute highlight of this album is the fifth track 'Pysahtyneet Planeetat': a real treat and in my opinion a potential single.
The next step should be a good production. Up till now Islaja's sound is still pretty underground and somewhat demo-like. This is fitting for her music, but I'm really curious as to how Merja Kokkonens would sound with a professional post production. In my opinion, this is the next step Islaja has deserved. Because with her third album “Ulual YYY†Islaja has shown us that we haven't heard the last of her. And I'm very happy about that.
More info and music on
Ratatoskonline.
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