Marína Ósk - One Evening in July

Today's EP performance shows that jazz gets along excellently with folklore. The sound spectrum ranges from mystical to sexy. The fairy or musician is called Marína Ósk, comes from Iceland and is devoted to jazz. Her new EP 'One Evening in July' (label TengTones) comes with eight sound pearls sung in English and Icelandic. It is her second solo record. The debut album 'Athvard' already earned her two nominations for the Icelandic Music Award. 

'One Evening in July' reflects her strong love for jazz of the golden 50 and 60 years. She has spent the last ten years studying it extensively at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. The American Songbook is a rulebook in which she has found herself. Each song on the EP was recorded in the old style in a live session. Post-processing not necessary...

When Marína Ósk sings in her mother tongue, it immediately sounds as if there is an elf in the house. So enchantingly delicate and fine. If you are looking for relaxation after a hard day, put on this record. The fire crackling then arises quite incidentally in the head. A clear distinction must be made between the songs sung in Icelandic and those sung in English. Their English-language songs very much embody that 50s style that catapults you ad hoc into a late night jazz lounge. Hey Love! as the first single release is a sassy song that captures the sweet agonies of love, light and sexy. In The Moon And The Sky she is in no way inferior to the great Melody Gardot. A jazz ballad at its best, which brings out the nuances of her mood and shows the caliber of the lady is carved.

But it's the songs she sings in her native language that have a special fascination for me. It is not really important to know what she sings about, the soul is touched and you just want to disappear into it. The titles of the songs are an invitation: Samtal vid sólu, Vid Tjörnina, Endaspretturinn... And there you are, standing in one of those old village taverns in the woods, where the tale of good and evil is told. Folklore meets jazz. ma-gi-cal. Also noteworthy is her minimalist style, which runs through the entire EP. Marína doesn't need much. Only her voice, which she uses like an instrument herself. Her quartet accompanies her like good old friends. Every now and then one of them gives his commentary, but it all remains very harmonious and Marína the undisputed center.

One Night in July' has become an album from two worlds. On the one hand, it could be at home in the jazz scene of the greats, on the other hand, she could just be standing in Iceland in the middle of green wilderness and singing. My favorites are the songs in her native language, no question. But she also shows her true musical talent in the English-language songs. An album with the rating valuable for a fireside evening - not only in July.

Listen and Repeat