Une Meeles is the stunning new album from Estonian fiddler and vocalist Maarja Nuut, and it’s an ambient, avant-garde piece that flows beautifully from start to finish with its minimalistic approach.
Une Meeles flows as if it’s one continuous track, with lots of little recurring ideas and melodies popping up on multiple occasions throughout the album, and although the album as a whole is very minimalistic, the little intricate details within the instrumentation mean that you’ll spot something new on each subsequent listen – Une Meeles is very much an album that requires a few listens for you to fully appreciate it. In particular, the many different techniques utilised by the violin – plucking, strumming and the more ‘standard’ legato bowing to name but three! – are great and add a lovely bit of variety to the album to help keep the listener on their toes.
It does have to be said that at times some of the songs do feel a little on the repetive side, as every now and then you seem to be presented with a repeating section that seems to drag on just that little bit too long, and it makes things seem a little uncomfortable as a result. However, as a whole, all the elements of the album gel very nicely together and Une Meeles is a beautiful performance from the hugely talented Maarja Nuut.
8/10
