Põhja Konn

The members of Põhja Konn are versatile and no strangers to classical, jazz, rock, funk and pop music. At the crossroads of genres, they're able to breathe life into a complete organism that is fully amphibious and can be described by keywords such as text and sound, past and present, harmony and melody, form and content. In 2016, they released their eponymous debut album „Põhja Konn“, which was nominated by the Estonian Music Awards as the Debut Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year. Most of the lyrics on the album originate from Estonian poetry by Betti Alver, Karl Ristikivi, Jakob Liiv, Lydia Koidula and Juhan Liiv. Stylistically the band leans towards classical harmonies, profound grooves and a strong sense of formal structure. With influences from early Estonian Rock sounds of Ruja and In Spe to Genesis, Beardfish and Gentle Giant, this is a band that is well versed in old-school prog rock, and blends these colours together in a new pallet that is fresh, whilst still recognizing its roots.

"Witnessing and listening live at a festival like Tallinn Music Week is an altogether different experience – one that gives real insight into their masterful understanding of all things jazz, classical, rock, funk and pop.There’s few live acts we’ve seen at places like Glastonbury, Green Man etc on the biggest stages, that can enchant an audience as much as Põhja Konn." (Neon Filler: http://www.neonfiller.com/wordpress/?p=12963, Marc Argent and Mark Taylor 2018)

"But also having listened to it over a dozen times since, it did not wear out. It is not that I discovered something new upon each spin - their song structures are too clearly recognisable to bear many surprises. It was good right from the beginning and it kept being just that. It simply is straightforward progressive rock, dense and compact, varied, but not overly complex, accessible, fresh, modern sounding and mature for a first release, with excellent musicianship and production - just high spirits music." (Thomas Otten 2018, http://www.dprp.net/reviews/2018-051)

"Well this is a wonderful discovery from Estonia. This self titled debut album of a bunch of talented and skillful musicians is hopefully only the first one of many albums. The band is in the process of developing their own sound but is at the same time influenced by the music of the seventies." (http://www.progvisions.nl/reviews_uk/pk_pk_uk.htm, Douwe Fledderus 2018)

"2 guitaristes, 1 basse, 1 batterie maniées par des musiciens exceptionnels créent un fond musical fourni et qui capte les rock addicts. Surprenament, le chant en Estonien est plutôt agréable, se mêlant parfaitement aux riffs très 70s des morceaux de Põhja Konn.“ (http://indeflagration.fr/concert/tallinn-music-week-2018, Socrate Flagrant 2018)

"Wow, diese Scheibe rockt. Põhja Konn kommen aus Tallinn, der Hauptstadt Estlands,
und haben sich ganz klar dem Old School
Prog Rock verschrieben. Dieser wird mit jeder
Menge Energie und Spielfreude vorgetragen. " (Empire Magazine, Martin Dambeck, 5/2018)

"Ispirato in modo preponderante ai primi Ruja, con sentori che ci riportano agli inizi degli anni Ottanta, e in minor misura agli In Spe, il gruppo riesce ad imbrigliare nella propria musica riferimenti ai classici britannici, con frammenti di Genesis, Yes e Gentle Giant che vengono incastonati in produzioni che conservano un'impronta rock accentuata e ruvida e trasfigurati in uno stile davvero molto particolare, illuminato da decisi spunti sinfonici e talvolta da aperture jazz e persino da riferimenti alla musica antica, soprattutto quando Kristen suona il mandolino. Le tastiere, suonate da Valter Soosalu, sono usate con molta parsimonia e a prevalere sono le parti chitarristiche, splendidamente intarsiate e con linee melodiche accattivanti e particolareggiate. Pur trattandosi di un album molto chitarristico, gli strumenti vengono impiegati in modo creativo per creare arrangiamenti ricchi e sfaccettati e mai per generare muri di suoni." (http://www.arlequins.it/pagine/articoli/alfa/corpo.asp?ch=6674, Jessica Attene 2018)