release date: 2004
format: cd (APCD 60067)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Jens Lysdal
label: ArtPeople - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Hjertekamre" - 2. "Kan ikke huske" - 3. "Den mælkehvide måne" - 5. "På må og få" - 9. "Alt kan gå i stå" - 11. "Paradis"
Collaboration album by the two folk and singer / songwriter soloists Laura Illeborg and Jens Lysdal. Admittedly, neither have taken up much space in my music collection, as I have always found it difficult to listen to Danish contemporary soft folk which mostly comes with bonds to a schlager genre I associate with kitch and an indefinable ingredient of something non-professional, which of course is completely ungrounded and also is an undeserved criticism. I have no idea from where that has its foundation, but when consciously approaching music you tend to reject, for whatever reason and all because of a judgemental position, not to forget (ugly) double-standards - meaning: the poorest reasons of all, then you should instead try to be more open-minded and focus on a want to dig out an understanding of the obvious qualities that many others see so easily.
The sudden death of Laura Illeborg early October this year made me curious about her music, as I simply had no idea of what she had produced. Illeborg only lived to be 55 years of age but she has made a solid list of releases in what I understand is a varied discography. Initially, she performed as backing vocalist on various releases for a vast number of artists from all genres and styles, and from 1996 as soloist - her debut album is Lyv mig natten lys (1996) - as collaborator, and featuring vocalist, she has long gone ensured her name in Danish music history. Jens Lysdal is likewise an artist who started out accompanying others, primarily as guitarist and backing vocalist, after which he initiated a solo career with A Matter of Time (1995). Lysdal is a multi-facetted musician with roots in jazz, folk, country, and everything in between and close by, and in company with Illeborg the two showcase a wide repertoire in a soft corner of contemporary Danish folk. And I do enjoy it. The album contains 11 songs of which nine have lyrics by Illebord and music by Lysdal. Track #8 is co-written by Lysdal, and the end-track is exclusively credited Lysdal, who also performs as multi-instrumentalist and as producer. Stylewise, you could label it ballads with elements from jazz, pop, and folk, and it's music arranged with a classic set of minimal instrumentation, focusing on vocal, electric (jazz) guitar, bass, percussion and a small doze of keyboard. It's music made with melancholy as a centre point but balanced with a lightness running through the whole album. Some songs stand more alone as quiet vocal performances, while others engage with more tempo without being uptempo arrangements.
Laura Illeborg performs with her strong original vocal, and she obviously masters the slow intimate parts as well as more uptempo pop variants. No wonder, she has a long record as featuring vocalist in the studio, and together, Illeborg and Lysdal appear like a strong duo. In Illeborg's discography, the album follows what may be regarded as her national breakthrough, the album Lidt in Love (2002), and it's succeeded by the well-received album God vagt (2007).
Hjertekamre is a solid and well-executed album in the soft corner of folk that should appeal to fans of jazz, ballads, and folk.
