The folk musicians Heikki Laitinen and Kimmo Pohjonen describe murders on their new album

Traditional ballads were used to pass on information, sometimes about rather gruesome stories and news. Murders, fact or fiction, have been a subject of plenty of songs during centuries.

Finnish folk singer Heikki Laitinen and accordion master Kimmo Pohjonen are releasing a new record “Murhaballadeja”, which covers traditional murder ballads. The Super-Audio CD is released on Siba Records on 28 August. The album was recorded in a concert during Sibafest-festival in February 2012, in Musiikkitalo, Helsinki.

Heikki Laitinen sings about e.g. murder of emperor, medieval torture device, suicide, among other rather horrifying themes, while Kimmo Pohjonen accompanies the stories with his accordion. The live performance comes across in the album, as a murder takes place during the concert.

Emeritus professor of Folk Music Heikki Laitinen has been singing murder ballads for decades, and has performed them with Kimmo Pohjonen for the last 20 years.

Mirka Pesonen / Music Finland
30 July, 2012