MARJA MATTLAR
Legendary Finnish folk singer-songwriter and poet best known for writing the songs "Lintu" and "Kehtolaulu" covered by Finnish metal band Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus. Since her 1993 debut, Pariisi–Vuorenkylä, she has created works that are direct, uncompromising and widely regarded as classics. The poetic lyrics and strong atmosphere of her music have secured her a place among the great folk artists of our time. Recent works include collaborations with the Finnish folk group Tenhi.
"Mattlar's omnipotent folk has no trace of self-cracking or desperate ripple but has a similar magnitude as in, for example, Dead Can Dance and Scott Walker in their own unique art." –Soundi
Marja Mattlar was the one whose poetry always made chills on my skin. By simplicity and beauty of every word in every sentence, Marja leads you through her story.
I first discovered Marja’s tracks years ago when living in Lahti. The city library had many of her CDs. Marja’s pronunciation of the Finnish language is impeccable, and I loved her simple-but-deep lyrics. For every album I write, there is always a stage when the music is nearly finished but there are no lyrics yet. It occurred to me that I could get one of Marja’s poems from her website and just use it temporarily. After doing so, it was clear that it fit the track so perfectly that I decided to write her asking if we can keep it on the album. Marja answered and said that she was familiar with the band and that one of her sons listens to KAUAN. This is how we started. Working with her was a great experience. She’s actually never written lyrics for anyone else. So this is an experiment, but I feel like it’s a 100% successful experiment.
I heard her previous work with Tenhi (album Polku) and was impressed by her musical personality. When i recorded promo version of Kaiho, i used her poem as placeholder lyrics, and every word fit the melody so well that i asked her to write lyrics for the whole album. Happily she agreed. She is an outstanding Finnish poet and it's a great honor to work with her.
Oh yes, 1st of December, my (as Anton Belov) first collaboration with Marja Mattlar, Kohti, will be released under our very own label, kauanmusic. It will be my first release as composer and arranger for Marja's tracks.
–Anton Belov
VIDEO
The most covered Marja's song is this "Lintu" ("Bird") from her first album (1993). The best known of the cover versions is the heavy metal arrangement of the Finnish band Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus (2000). The band has told that Lintu is the most asked song in their repertoire. Also Marja usually includes Lintu in her concert playlists.
Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus - Lintu
DISCOGRAPHY
