A star in her native country and former backing singer to Madrugada, Ingrid Olava offers up her debut UK release of the Please Welcome EP. This comes in the form of one studio and three live tracks that feature on her album The Guest which reached No. 2 in the Norwegian charts.

The critical acclaim which it received should give us an idea of what is in store and ‘Warrior Song’ is an example of her great talent. With idiosyncratic vocals, tremulous drums, building guitars and pianos, it transforms from something quietly tender into an anthemic crescendo of willfullnessand strength. Citing Elton John and Jan Johannson as her first taste of how the realms of piano can transform and bring songs a unique kind of power. It comes across from its rich accompanyment to its striking melodic chords. Supposedly about a friend of hers who tried to save someone who didn’t want saving. It’s dark stuff as you wander through her themes of power, control and love.

Olava, like Tori Amos, seems most comfortable with these piano led melodies reflecting the elements in her lyrical narratives with sporadic waves of softeness and strength. Like Amos’s Me and a Gun, the extended live version of ‘Won’t Be Silenced’ concerns the world of domestic violence. It is mid tempo and moody, building to a storm of percussion and strings that add to the strength to Olava’s morose tones.

‘Only Just Begun’ is less serious, however, with a hypnotic rhythm section and a poppy piano providing a fragile beauty and tender charm. ‘Back To Love’ is a brittle ballad meandering along a forgotten path, like a song half remembered and with painfully honest lyrics: “I’ve grown tired of the fire // the desire I’m always drowning in”. With the acclaim received by The Guest, it will be interesting to hear the studio versions of these song, which the live recordings lose in the translation making it at time sound clinical. However we should prepare ourselves for the cold blustering wind coming in from Norway.

Warrior Song – Ingrid Olava from Daring Viola on Vimeo.