Hildá Länsman

Part of the homeland of the Sámi people is in northern Finland, but the Sámi identity is a global one and is heavily defined by its music. The joik tradition stands apart from mainstream culture, even if expressed in rap or in world music.

"The listening experience is refreshing and reminds me of a rainforest landscape, with a lot of small exciting sounds joining in from here and there, rather than presenting catchy tunes."

“The music of Arctic Fire concert at the WOMEX 2019 was brave and contemporary, yet all of them drew in some way on archaic traditions in Finnish music.”

"​Vildá is a very refreshing addition to the Finnish world music scene, a combination of top-notch accordion playing by Viivi Maria Saarenkylä and the truly unique sounds that Hildá Länsman produces with her voice, both without words and in her native language, Northern Sámi."

Music has long been important in increasing international awareness about the Sámi. Their yoik singing has come to represent an often forgotten people on the edge of Europe. Singer and songwriter Hildá Länsman represents the youngest generation forging an identity between tradition and modernity.

Folk music through a feminist perspective has been a thing in Sweden for several years, but Finland’s first series of feminist folk music concerts is only now taking place. Singer and journalist Amanda Kauranne and her team explore difficult topics and taboos of womanhood in four concerts.

"The duo’s fresh debut album is sung exclusively in their native Sámi language, and the yoik flows in the heart of the music."