[TR24][OF] Solveig Slettahjell & Knut Reiersrud with In the Country - Trail of Souls - 2015 (ACT Music, Female Vocal Jazz, Blues)

foobar2000 1.3.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-12-08 06:09:33
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Analyzed: Solveig Slettahjell, Knut Reiersrud & In The Country / Trail of Souls
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DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
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DR13      -0.10 dB   -15.73 dB      4:39 01-Borrowed Time
DR12      -0.10 dB   -14.64 dB      4:59 02-Grandma's Hands (and For Guds Folk Er Hvilen Tilbake)
DR12      -0.10 dB   -15.00 dB      5:32 03-Mercy Street
DR12      -2.70 dB   -20.27 dB      3:43 04-Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
DR12      -0.10 dB   -14.97 dB      5:06 05-Come Healing
DR12      -0.10 dB   -16.43 dB      5:49 06-Is My Living in Vain
DR12      -0.10 dB   -13.76 dB      4:18 07-Holy Joe
DR14      -0.10 dB   -17.68 dB      3:12 08-Trouble in Mind
DR11      -1.04 dB   -18.52 dB      4:29 09-His Eye Is on the Sparrow
DR12      -0.10 dB   -14.71 dB      3:22 10-I Don't Feel Noways Tired
DR11      -0.10 dB   -15.74 dB      6:07 11-Soul of a Man (and Om Nogen Ondt Meg Vil)
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Number of tracks:  11
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate:        96000 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   24
Bitrate:           2624 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
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Vocalist Solveig Slettahjell and blues guitarist/harmonica player Knut Reiersrud record together for the first time on Trail Of Souls. They're joined by another three Norwegian musicians—pianist Morten Qvenlid, bassist Roger Arntzen and drummer Pål Hausken, known collectively as In The Country—on a programme of songs drawn from early blues, spirituals and classic rock songwriters.
The performances are uniformly high quality—Qvenild's synth and piano parts are subtle, Sletahjell's vocals are heartfelt and understated, Reiersrud's acoustic guitar is lyrical and flowing. However, the decision to take every song at a very slow pace, coupled with the songs' tales of sadness and failure, results in an overall effect that's more depressing than elating. Although Shakespeare's suggestion that "If music be the food of love, play on" is quoted on the album sleeve, there's little love in these lyrics—most of these songs paint a picture of a far from loving world.
"Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" combines Slettahjell's vocal with Qvenild's slow, stately, piano in a way that successfully emphasises the despair of the tale. "Borrowed Time" and "Is My Living In Vain," both gracefully performed, project similar pessimistic emotions. Even when Slettahjell sings—on "Trouble In Mind"—that "The sun's gonna shine in my back door someday" she sounds as if she doesn't really believe it'll happen.
The closest Trail Of Souls gets to a feel good song is Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands." But even here, the grandparent comes across as someone to be respected, even feared, rather than loved. So, Trail Of Souls proves to be a musically successful meeting of spiritual and bluesy Americana with a Nordic jazz sensibility—as was intended—but one that veers too much towards a downbeat, even depressing, worldview. (Bruce Lindsay, AllAboutJazz)

Solveig Sletahjell - vocals
Knut Reiersrud - guitar, harmonica
Morten Qvenild - piano, synth
Roger Arntzen - bass
Pål Hausken - drums, percussion