David Åhlén: My Face Will Shine
Jivvär

At four songs and sixteen minutes, My Face Will Shine offers a modest accounting of David Åhlén's artistry but is still substantial enough to leave a lasting mark. Currently residing on the Swedish island of Gotland, the Swedish singer-songwriter perpetuates on the EP the plaintive sound presented on releases such as We Sprout in Thy Soil (Compunctio, 2009), All the Way My Saviour Leads Me (Volkoren, 2014), and Hidden Light (Volkoren, 2016), each thoroughly capable of seducing the listener when Åhlén's signature falsetto is front and center.

Without sounding too much like any one of them, his music shares certain qualities with Arvo Pärt's, Jóhann Jóhansson's, and Sigur Rós's. Åhlén's is plaintive, sincere, and deeply informed by religious belief, with, in his own words, many of the EP's lyrics “about the mystery of our soul speaking to God and the longing that follows.” Don't worry if you're less devout: Åhlén's music is so affecting it transcends religious affiliation, the songs capable of tingling the spines of believer and non-believer alike. He augments his singing with electric baritone/guitar, piano, and synth, but isn't alone: joining him are Lisa Rydberg (violin, viola), Mikael Lindblad Ehnborg (synth), Kenneth Berg (drums), singers Miguel Robaina and Gustaf Spetz, and The Boys' Choir of Gotland.

Much of it's delivered at a plodding, ponderous tempo, which makes it all the easier for the listener to savour the splendour of the chamber arrangements. The supplicating tone of “Breathe,” a heartfelt expression of devotion (“Secret friend / Stranger / Redeemer / Let your rays of light / Enter me / I've been caught by your love / I'm yours now”), is bolstered by the wordless singing of the choir and the elegiac beauty of Rydberg's strings. As affecting is “If I Have You” when the vocal resources expand with the addition of Robaina and Spetz, Rydberg again as pivotal to the song's impact. Elsewhere, “My Face Will Shine” (“Shine your light on me / And my face will shine”) distances itself from the other songs in emphasizing Åhlén's lower register, and in keeping with a title that's Hebrew for heaven, the haunting “Shamayim” is suitably prayerful. Åhlén's inimitable voice naturally illuminates each song, but special mention must be made of Rydberg: her strings enhance the material so much, they're almost as critical to the EP's impact as the leader's own contributions.

June 2020