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It is fair to say that How and How, the new long-player from Sara Möller, covers a lot of ground musically speaking. And often, when such a statement is posited by a reviewer, it is a polite way of saying “unfocused,” but here, nothing could be further from the truth. How and How is the sound of someone building a unique and signature sonic world out of threads garnered from a number of interlocking and neighboring genres, sounds, and styles? Unfocused? Hardly! In fact, just the opposite.
These tunes rise from a harmonic haze of jazz intricacies and bluesy rhythms, delicate folk nuances, and the rich tapestry of chanson traditions. It’s a reinvention of roots music, a nod to past glories, and depending on how Sara tweaks her sonic palette, the results swing from gentle understatement to rowdy, rough-edged anthems.
Just take the first couple of tracks for a taste of the album’s range. On the one hand, “It’s A Pity” dishes out a beguiling blend of music hall blues and abrasive guitar riffs, meandering pianos, and sultry, New Orleans-infused brass, hinting at a wild and rebellious ride to come. On the other, “Letting It All Go” serves up a sublime slice of bluesy-folk brilliance, all understated and haunting. What follows, wanders between such extremes and does so brilliantly.
From there, we’re treated to the Kurt Weill-esque swagger of the title track, a seamless blend of sonic nostalgia and avant-garde experimentations. Then we groove to the jazzy struts of “You Don’t Have A Clue,” bask in the stripped-back, almost tribal driven vocal beauty of “Roots Mingle,” and savor the chanson-inspired flavors of “Like A Wave.” It is an album that covers a lot of ground yet remains the product of a concise and perfectly formed sonic world.
It’s no wonder that Sweden’s top musicians are lining up to collaborate with her. It’s no surprise that Lira, one of the country’s premier music magazines, crowned this, her third album, a “masterpiece.” It’s no shock that fans of everyone from Tom Waits to Lhasa de Sela, aficionados of jazz, blues, and alternative music in its purest, most authentic sense, and fans of music built with authenticity and integrity are rallying to her musical cause. And it’s no wonder that she’s earned a permanent slot on this writer’s playlist from here on out.
