Juho Toivonen - Sisarusten Toistuva Uni

Second album of ambient folk song from Finland's Juho Toivonen, conceptually based around the discovery of a recurring dream he and his sister had unwittingly been sharing. Built outwards from the delicate piano playing that characterised Toivone's debut LP and adorned by droning textures, subtle guitar fixtures and the hiss of found sound, there's a clear dreamstate bliss to Sisarusten Toistuva Uni that feels obviously rooted in memory and nostalgia. Perhaps it is that piano playing that does it, but i couldn't help thinking of the narrative-led emotional gravitas of An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, the drift of a decaying sound world suspended in unknown time, just like a half-remembered dream that feels significant for unknown reasons. As with The Caretaker, texture is key, and if there's not the same weight of sadness hanging over Sisarusten Toistuva Uni, then there is a sense of sylvanian remoteness that finds some common ground with the quadrilogy of seasonally-themed albums issued by Arv & Miljo. The notion of return, then, doesn't just feel tied to memory, but also to the land and nature, and like with a lot of music from the European underground right now, a romantic understanding of the pre-modern world and its enduring forms.