Dreamers Circus, Rooftop Sessions (Vertical)
Rob Adams
As they’ve shown on two visits to Celtic Connections and on their YouTube hit (at least it was on my computer), A Room in Paris, Scandinavian trio Dreamers Circus are the masters of sustained collective momentum. This latest album, their third but the first to be released here, has some of that uptempo magic but is more of an understated masterpiece.
Between them, Swede Ale Carr and Danes Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen and Nikolaj Busk play a music shopful of instruments, including cittern, violin, accordion, piano, harmonium and the zither-like kokle, and they draw on their native folk traditions to create music that is haunting, gently mysterious, gorgeously atmospheric and always superbly considered.
The opening City Gardens paints a vivid scene by stealth, with Sorensen’s violin initially cutting a lonely figure before the others’ cittern and accordion arrive with the lightest of touches, and the collectively written Rooftop Sessions Part l and ll are almost symphonic with a simple melody corkscrewing off into the distance. Busk’s Then We Waltzed lives up to its name and Carr’s Mormor dances charmingly between Nordic and oriental leanings before Afterwards’ keening reflection has the listener’s index finger hovering over “replay”.
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