Benedicte Maurseth doesn’t treat the Hardanger fiddle as a folkloristic prop on her new album Mirra – rather, it becomes the starting point for musical transformation. Together with Håkon Stene (percussion), Mats Eilertsen (bass), and Morten Qvenild (keys), she creates flowing soundscapes that shift between Nordic tradition, minimalism, and subtle electronic textures.
The compositions often unfold in repetitive, stoically circling patterns reminiscent of minimal music. Occasionally, motoric, gliding rhythms appear – nodding toward krautrock without ever slipping into rock structures. Maurseth’s musical vocabulary remains reduced but nuanced: traditional melodies are refracted like through a prism – layered, stretched, reinterpreted.
The album title Mirra refers to a formation reindeer create in winter. This association carries into the music: field recordings of reindeer and other endangered species add a natural, almost spiritual layer to the soundscape. As a whole, Mirra feels like a musical meditation on landscape, transformation, and fragile coexistence – quiet, but firm.
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