Sondre Bratland - Jol i mi song

The scent of spruce, straw and frankincense

Almost all the Christmas songs on Sondre Bratland's Christmas record are in major keys and with three beats to the bar, and most of the lyrics are in the "nynorsk" Norwegian language or Norwegian dialects. He has chosen a repertoire where half are classics – typical examples are "Eg er så glad kvar jolekveld" (I Am So Happy on Christmas Eve) and " Det Kimer nå til julefest" (The Bells of Christmas Chime Once More) – and half are new songs, where the title song "Jol i mi song" (Christmas in my song) by Annbjørg Lien and Sondre Bratland opens the album.

On his new record, Sondre Bratland has created a far more intimate sound than on his great success from 1992, "Rosa frå Betlehem" (The Rose from Bethlehem), which was recorded in the Church of Nativity in the Holy Land. This time the band features only three musicians. We hear Tore Bruvoll on guitar, banjo and mandolin, Sigbjørn Apeland on harmonium and piano and Nils Økland on violins. The three musicians float somewhere between country and folk music, and with a dash of Swedish, Norwegian, Irish and American music and the soft acoustics of Sofienberg church they create the overtones of starry skies over a close and warm sound. It is almost as if we can sense the stars through the small windows in the roof of the stables, the way the nativity of Christ in Bethlehem has been depicted by so many Renaissance painters. The unmistakable scent of spruce, straw and frankincense, as if from a typical Norwegian celebration of Christmas, seems to be in the air and the picture is complete.

On one track Sondre's mother performs in an archive recording from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sondre Bratland is quoted on the cover about this album:

"Anne Grimdalen (a famous Norwegian sculptor) was once asked by a journalist whether she was a friend of the Pentecostal church. She answered, "Yes, I am, and I’m also a friend of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun."

During Christmas I like to sing songs that can show more of who Jesus was in addition to being the little child in Bethlehem, this life that started so small and defenceless and came to be something that has really influenced faith and ideas in our part of the world for individuals and society in general."