This album, Enekk's third, finds the group collaborating with two Bulgarian musicians. Enekk is Agnar Lamhauge (bass), Oli Olsen (piano and vocals), Eydun Lamhauge (accordion), Justin Philbrow (electric guitar) and Kari Sverrisson (vocals and acoustic guitar). Their Bulgarian friends are Valeri Dimchev (tambura) and Dragomir Dimov (tarambuka, percussion and vocals).

This is one of those albums where knowing the language is a big help. Many of the songs seem to be originals and all of the lyrics are given in the liner notes. However, these are in Faroese, as are the liner notes. A section of the notes is in Bulgarian. One gets the feeling that the lyrics are important, but any English speaker will be lost. The passion with which the words are sung makes one wonder what is being said. At least the photos of natural settings in the liner notes need no translation.

The arrangements are in the folk-rock vein with some room for improvisation. The Balkan instruments give an unusual flavor to the proceedings. The vocals have a rough, rock-oriented quality, and the electric guitar on tunes like "Og Tu Vart" hearkens back to mid-1970s Jethro Tull or Mike Oldfield. The bass-driven "Gamla Blaa Havid" has wordless vocals. "Jallgrims Kvaedi" is mostly instrumental, with the brief lyric in the middle of improvisation.

Fyra Naetur Fyri Jol is not a typical folky album. For a taste of Faroese music that explores different territory, try this CD.

- Rambles
written by Jennifer Hanson
published 27 December 2003