Nordic Music Review is 2 years old in just a few days time, and I was thinking last week of a few of the artists we featured around our first birthday, and some of the world events at that time. 'Catself' from Finland was one of those artists, we really like her quirky alternative folk pop style, with songs that tell magical stories, backed up by a nice sense of humour. Last year our featured track was 'Alien Vampiress is Fitting In' and we were delighted to hear that she has a new release, and it is a really lovely song and video too, entitled 'Waiting Room'.
The premise behind 'Waiting Room' is so charming, and given that recent world news has left us slightly shell-shocked, it is such a nice reminder that (most) people are actually pleasant and instinctively thoughtful and caring to others. Filmed in the campus in Aalto University (which is in Espoo just outside of Helsinki), Catself had advertised for people to appear in the video, and on arrival they discovered that they were all from different countries and hardly any of them had met previously either. The video depicting mostly strangers from different nationalities meeting and showing trust and interest in each other, feels really appropriate at a time where everyone is seemingly encouraged to be fearful and distrusting.
You can watch and listen to 'Waiting Room' here:
I really like this track, it is written in that unique Catself style, and it feels coherent with a lovely flowing melody. It is probably my favourite Catself song that I've heard to date, although there's also some brilliant and typically idiosyncratic live performances of her tracks online - 'Hitch-hiking in Spain' and 'To Be Harry Potter' are good examples that you can find quite easily, although the sound quality is obviously slightly lacking.
Anyway there are more videos and music online at her website, and if you happen to be one of our Dutch readers (we know we have a few...) she is in Holland right now, so check her Facebook page or website for further details of a couple of gigs.