Islaja - Tarantulla [Svart Records Promo]

Released earlier this month via Svart Records is "Tarantulla", the newest album created by the Finnish artist Merja Kokkonen using her artistic guise Islaja. Catering a menu of nine tracks covering a runtime of approx. 38 minutes we see the Berlin-based creator explore a fascinating realm of distinct, unique Leftfield Pop starting with the vocally warped and string heavy tale named "Ghost From The Future" which fuses both modernistic as well as ancient musical tendencies whilst "Emosein" brings dramatic, captivating multiple harmony layers of - well... - slightly björk'ish qualities to the table and its follow up "Sadetta" and its hypnotic beat backing is more of an intense and ceremonial, maybe even celebratory character. With "Tactile Material" we're entering a dancefloor crowded by SynthPop, PostPunk and Wave-loving creatures of the night which also have a thing for experimental Jazz-excursions, the "Peace Pilot" flies a plane fueled by hammering, uncompromising Techno and experimental, ethereal vocal works whereas the artists "Earty Side" is a hypnotic excursion into 4/4 driven Synth- and MinimalWave with an edgy, ambiguous twist. Looking at her "Robot Arm" Merja Kokkonen must have thought of heavy, grinding SynthPop and slowly moving gargantuan machines of future industrial eras alongside big time romanticism and intense Spoken Word lectures, "Sävel Mun Suussa" is more of a traditional ballad in a MetaPop sense and twice as sexy due to the use of the Finnish language and the closing "Sun Luona Taas" pleases all those loving large scale vintage synth arrangements as well as heartfelt and touching Retrofuturist SpacePop for a reason. Well-varied and therefore recommended for a reason.