Emma Salokoski with Ilmiliekki: Joulu Joulu Jul

If you are looking for a novel way of approaching the December 2022 festive season, musically speaking, and are not deterred by a mixture of Nordic languages, then this album may appeal. The songs are sung in Swedish and Finnish, and without any accompanying lyric sheet an English speaker might do well to search for lyrics online. Keen observers of the Nordic jazz scene will know the band behind the album from its prominence in the mid 2000s, following victory in the competition for Young Nordic Jazz Comets in 2002, and from the series of albums released fairly regularly since then, the last one being in February 2022 (Ilmiliekki Quartet, We Jazz Records 2022) .

Emma Salokoski has been associated with the band since its student times, when she was the singer for the Finnish soul-funk outfit Quintessence, in which trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and bassist Antti Lotjonen also gigged. In addition to a successful solo career in Finland, Salokoski has sung and also maintained her connection with the band through her husband, its drummer Olavi Louhivuori, and on this album she adds lyrics to two tunes written by him. Pianist Tuomo Prattala has also had a successful career as a composer and singer, and although none of his compositions appear here, his masterly obtuse or lyrical accompaniments are an essential element of the breadth and variety of the music that defines Ilmiliekki.

So why a Christmas album? With a title so overt, one might wonder if the band has slipped over the edge predicted earlier in their career by a Finnish critic, being tempted into "naïve sentimentalism." In fact the band has always used extraneous influences, covering songs by Björk, Suzanne Vega, Tom Waits, Radiohead as well as Ornette Coleman. This time it borrows a number of classic Christmas pieces, from Swedish composers Alice Tehnér, Ivar Widén and Ruben Liljefors, from Finns Otto Kotilainen and Jean Sibelius, as well as one hymn originally composed by J.S. Bach. But there are three original compositions all on a Christmas theme, and refreshingly different arrangements of pieces such as Kennicott Davies' "Little Drummer Boy" (here "Pieni rumpalipoika"), and Franz Gruber's "Silent Night" ("Jouluyö, juhlayö").

Salokoski's vocals sound even more febrile than earlier in her career, but avoid sounding too childish by maintaining this purity throughout. It is a style and a timbre that matches Pohjola's soft trumpet floating over the supple bass and deft percussive backing. The band have proved earlier that it can rock out with the other alpha males, but here it offers an approach to the festive season that is delicate without being drippy, sweet but not saccharine, and above all enchanting in a time of dour world realities. The words may be foreign but many tunes are familiar, although stretched to the limits between five potential soloists. Even with the three original pieces, this is an album of festive familiarity mixed with some spicy, and very occasionally spiky, seasonal cheer. As for the languages, one could just try and hum along with them.

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