Ulli is the fourth album by Norwegian-Sámi duo LEAGUS, consisting of pianist Herborg Rundberg and guitarist Kristian Svalestad Olstad. The album takes its point of departure in ideas of cycles, circulation and movement — in nature, in rhythm, and in the way musical ideas emerge, disappear and return in new forms. Bridging the gap between contemporary jazz, electronica and joik.
“Ulli” opens with “Gaskkas”, a track that could have easily scored a Nordic Noire series set on the snow-covered plains of Sápmi. Shifting between acoustic and electronic textures, composed and improvisation, “Ulli” transcend from the rhythmical and mesmerizing to the soothing and atmospheric. While piano, guitar, percussion, bass and drums form an ever-shifting musical framework and joik the added dimension, the music manage to be both experimental jet highly accessible and gratifying at the same time; A telltale sign of truly expert musicianship.
Ulli is the Northern Sámi word for high tide. High tide is not a static state, but part of a larger natural cycle: it rises and falls, expands and contracts, moves outward and inward, and returns to familiar places without ever being quite the same. Rooted in a Sámi identity, LEAGUS has always explored the space between composition and improvisation, and between established musical roles and the possibilities of redefining them.
The music moves between acoustic and electronic textures, composed structures and improvisation. Piano, guitar, percussion, programming, bass and drums form a constantly shifting framework, while joik introduces another dimension of musical expression rooted in LEAGUS' Sámi identity. The album gradually expands beyond the duo. Svein Schultz contributes bass, while Torkil Vollstad-Giæver and Aleksander Kostopoulos appear on drums. The joiker Lávre Johan Eira contributes on two tracks, with his voice and joik becoming an integral part of the compositions.