TAUTUMEITAS
Dziesmas no Aulejas (Songs from Aulejas)
(2020 - CPL-Music - Germany)

http://www.tautumeitas.lv/home/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0hKY8ZEfJg

https://cpl-music.de/en/

A six piece Finnish female vocal outfit so in sync and perfectly balanced with lush voice harmony and elusive attraction, on this their second album as Tautumeitas, present a platter of traditional music from a small village in Latvia. Where the group showed their skills at blending and bending traditional and ethno music with their debut (self titled - 2018) and their collaboration (Auļi un Tautumeitas - Lai Masiņa Rotajas! - 2017) with bagpipes and drums, this time they go back in time to a more pure and all a cappella release representing a multi generation of women singers specifically from Aulejas, where originally five women carried on this particular style of singing. Tautumeitas do it with six women which brings out the richness even more beautifully. With an aura that makes the skin crawl and causes tingles in your spine, the heart becomes involved as you listen.

Both unison and varied call and response are done in exquisite fashion. This short (less than 30 mins) is stunning. There is a reason those pristine vocal arrangements have penetrated the soul for centuries. There is no fat, no waste, nothing fake or even treated. This is what the world needs. Pure and soulful music without pollution. It cannot go unnoticed that the six singers are not only gorgeous physically, but their angelic voices blend like nectar from the heavens and refuse to be denied a collective presence.

 

We go through life with some happiness (if lucky) and loads of anxiety (if you are human) and I claim this album to be what you need. Like one of my all time favorite Twilight Zone episodes (episode 12, 1959) 'What You Need', it reduces this story down to the positive side, and with enigmatic statue and buoyant results. Note that there is very different cover art for the LP verses the CD for those collectors. The CD comes in a very nice digi-pak gatefold with booklet, and the artwork from LP cover is printed on the disc itself, as well as under the clear plastic tray of the package. The cover is of one of the original five piece outfits of the Aulejas circle. The album is pressed on a snow white vinyl and is very striking. Whichever version you chose, a wonderful listen and one to cherish. RECOMMENDED.

 ©Reviewed by Lee Henderson  6 - 10 - 2020

​