2. April 2025
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Media Review

Siv Jakobsen – Gardening

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Siv Jakobsen - Gardening

Siv Jakobsen - Gardening
4.1

Rating

 4.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very characteristic style
  • Very nice storytelling

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Songs feel rather similar

Norwegian artist Siv Jakobsen releases her fourth studio album on 20th January 2023. Gardening contains just some new and some previously released tracks. I had the opportunity to have a listen before the publication and hereby share my thoughts with you.

 

Siv Jakobsen – About The Artist

Siv Jakobsen is a Norwegian artist from Oslo. Unfortunately, I could not find too much bio about her, evening though her song did have some popularity. Two songs of her 2015 debut album The Lingering, for example, exceed a total of six million streams on Spotify (Dark and How We Used to Love). The following album, The Nordic Mellow (2017) also contained some really successful songs. After a live album released in 2018, she added A Temporary Soothing to her discography in 2020.

 

Siv Jakobsen – Gardening – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 41 minutes.

1. Small

Harp-alike sounds, slowly strumming guitar – Siv Jakobsen opens Gardening with the very dream-ish, almost fairy-alike Small. A lovely atmosphere at the beginning of the listen..

2. Romain’s Place

After the quiet, fragile opener, Romain’s Place almost feels massive. However, it is just a typical folk track with a touch of pop elements. There is a lot of reverb effect on the vocals in the chorus. Overall, the song (again) feels like a wonderful travel into another world.

3. Most Of The Time

Most Of The Time is located in the middle of this block of three single releases. The song works with string backgrounds and humming guitar chords in the back. Finally, the instruments are creating just the right backing atmosphere which is necessary to comfort Jakobsen’s gentle voice.

4. Birthday

This Birthday song is as close as the album gets to mainstream radio songs. Already the first verses are a great illustration how beautifully the Norwegian is able to describing the scenery and the stories behind a song. I definitely have to smile while listening.

I got drunk on my birthday
Dancing on tables with my friends
You were late, sat in the corner saying nothing
Happy birthday

5. Bad By Design

Another song which is describing discussions about an unfaithful relationship. The stomping bass drum is leaving a threatening mark in the ear or the listener. On the other hand, this also leads to a very impressive experience.

6. Bad By Design (Reprise)

After the fifth song, the theme of Bad By Design is followed on in the 56 second long instrumental reprise. Feels a bit like a piece of classic music. Nice arrangement.

7. Tangerine

I’m a tangerine, peel me
Throw me in the sink
Leave me there to stink

Listeing to these verses, it would be rather hard to state that this album is full of happiness and joy. There are a lot of stories about toxic relationship and feeling blocked by being in love. Nonetheless, Siv Jakobsen somehow manages to make these feelings sound nice.

8. Blue

On the melodic side, Blue does not introduce too many new features. The drums are using jazz-alike brushing, the key melodic elements are sterling brass sounds. On top of that, there are these fairy-alike elements and the beautiful voice of the Norwegian artists. Nonetheless, this song feels close to other listens of the album to me. The story and the lyrics are what is finally leading to the difference.

9. Sun, Moon, Stars (feat. Ane Brun)

For Sun, Moon, Stars, Siv Jakobsen is collaborating with another Norwegian folk-pop artist, Ane Brun. Lovely vocal collaboration, which increases the fragility, but also the energy of the song, compared to other tracks of the album.

10. Gardening

The title track is located in the last tracks of the album. Beautiful fit to the other songs. Gardening comes with a rather wide arrangement. I feel it could have been a really nice single release as well.

11. Gardening (Reprise)

Same procedure as at Bad by Design: the title track is followed by an instrumental reprise. Nice one in here.

12. The Bay

With 2:43 minutes, the closing song is rather short. Overall, The Bay has a nice balance of vocal and (purely) instrumental parts.

 

Siv Jakobsen – Gardening – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Siv Jakobsen – Gardening – My View

Siv Jakobsen is doing her kind of music – and she is keeping it over the whole playtime of Gardening. On the one hand, I love her storytelling and the way she is arranging the songs. On the other hand, there is a certain lack of surprising moments during these 41 minutes. If you love Siv Jakobsen’s style, this will definitely one of your favorite folk albums of the year. I appreciate the quality of the recordings, but still have a bit of struggle with this release.

 

Music – Folk Music Postings 2022

Here are all my Music & Media postings related to folk music in 2022:

 

Free Entry Locations (USA)

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