She’s a thief and admits it, Finnish-American Emily Cheeger. Even though she’s responsible for one of the most imaginative, creative releases this year with her sophomore effort ‘The Plains’, she’s downright stolen her artist name, Vuk. From a child, too. A little half-Serbian boy to be exact (apparently it’s a very common Serbo-Croatian boy’s name, so there should be plenty more around, but still…). Anyway, since I’m neither judge, jury or executioner this only serve as intro and a fun fact on this great artist.

I want to compare her to compatriot Astrid Swan, especially her 2008 album ‘Spartan Picnic’. Not because they’re directly comparable, but they do share some characteristics. They’re both powerful vocalists and have a love for the theatrically grandiose, and like Swan Vuk knows how to balance the avant-garde with the accessible, and the experiment with solid, straightforward pop within songs. New layers and details constantly surface, making this a challenging experience. In a good way, that is.

Like the funky, repetitive ‘Kiss The Assassin’ where a handclap ‘n bass groove is contrasted by an eery siren choir and suddenly torn by a horn section gone desperately apeshit. Or when she has Brazilian samba clash with a Balkan orchestra in ‘All My Worries’. She touches on David Sylvian/Japan in opener ‘Flint In The Pines’ and offer dreamy calms in ‘The Arms Of Spirits’, ‘Gramophone & Periscope’ and the title track, the latter waltzing, melancholic balladry at its finest and still she manages to sneak in delicate tribal drums as a perfectly natural element.

The former Dirty Projectors collaborator released her debut ‘Exile!’ (which I don’t know) in 2003 and ‘The Plains’ were in fact ready to be released in 2007, but her then label went belly-up. Don’t matter now, because it’s out and excellent, and thankfully it sounds like it won’t be another six years before Vuk will spoil us with a new album.

Genre: Alternative
Who: Vuk
Album: The Plains
Label: Pyramid/Johanna Kustannus
Year: 2009
Country: Finland
Language: English
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Recommended tracks:
Flint In The Pines – The Arms Of Spirits – Kiss The Assassin – The Plains