PX3KAUPPILA (PAULIINA KAUPPILA)
The Hanged Maid
Finish traditional folk musicians, what are they like? You don’t hear from one for decades and then 2 turn up close together. Not only that, but they have both been an interesting learning experience in their own right.
Pauliina Kauppila, operating under the name Px3Kauppila is a percussionist and a psychiatrist, with an interest in the witches, spells, stories and gods of Finnish mythology, for what they tell us about history and their relevance to the present in attitudes and behaviours. Her interest in folk music is allied to influences, not only from her subject matter but also the work of David Bowie, and filmmaker David Lynch. She is also a hugely respected musician within her native country, operating across a wide range of genres and combining all those elements, it is no shock that the resulting music is intriguing, experimental and dramatic, with dreamlike aspects – it would be no surprise to find that her approach to understanding human behaviour focuses more on the unconscious symbolism and collective archetypes of the likes of Freud and Jung, rather than on the mechanistic explanations of more Behaviourist oriented practitioners. This is possibly borne out by the crediting of a vibrator as an instrument used in the recording – presumably not an everyday feature of traditional music in any culture. The fact that the songs are delivered in Finnish, which despite our love of Scandi noir, is not a language with which we are familiar does mean that we are led to focus on the drama and dynamics of the voice and music rather than searching for meaning in the lyrics.
It does appear from the information supplied that these draw heavily on folk tales, though to be fair, there are more references to saunas that is true of most folk music, but returning to the psychodynamic universe, the final track, a trilogy, does reflect an apparent universality in folk music, with a tale revolving around a young girl having made an ill advised journey into a forest and met with misfortune as a result. Track two follows a similar trope, if the title of ‘Refusing an Old Man’ is to be believed, though it turns out to be considerably more complex than that. However, the themes of the songs are also doors into exploration of human conditions, the relationship between the external and internal, of the origins of mental illness, of difficult states, the depth of the issues, is suggested by the drama in the music, though once again, the barrier of language means that this is largely supposition.
The songs across the album do not necessarily conform to what we would consider traditional structures, rather they often have the feel of dramas being played out against a background of music – albeit with a strong percussive element. A search for the English translations of the lyrics support this feeling – they appear largely as narrative rather that poetry.
To these admittedly naïve ears, this album is a curiosity, but It is one that is never short of interesting and at times, the dynamics add a captivating, attention grabbing element to the whole affair. It is a dark and at times disturbing listen, but the professional life of the artist means that it probably reflects much of where she spends her days.
An album I would have liked to understand more, it has a disturbing quality that adds to its fascination. For those of us old enough to remember ‘Tales From Europe’ from our childhood, then it has all grown up and is more attractively strange than ever.
If your interest has been suitably piqued, and I hope it has, then you can find more by visiting Pauliina’s website and find links to hear more.
