Finns That Make You Go Hmmmm

Fonal has quietly been establishing itself as one of the most reliable indie labels around over the last few years. I say "quietly", but i imagine it would be rather hard to do it any other way, given that their stock-in-trade is Finnish-language avant-garde psych-folk. While the likes of Islaja and Kemialliset Ystävät are unlikely to be getting much attention from the mainstream in the near future, the label's most accessible act, Eleanoora Rosenholm, might have an outside shot at at broader audience. Although influenced by her stable-mates, she dispenses with many of the more inscrutable elements of their sound in favour of electro and disco. Fans of everything from Fever Ray, Sally Shapiro and Glass Candy to mid-90s Einsturzende Neubauten might find something to like but the closest comparison, in spirit as well as sound, is probably with the anything-goes approach of Bjork and Japan's brilliant Shiina Ringo. It's dark, experimental pop combining lyrics about serial killers and Hermann Hesse with dance routines and a propulsive sense of black humour.