Slovakian flautist Michaela Antalová and Norwegian double bassist Adrian Myhr blend traditional folk musics from their respective countries with field recordings to compose new music. The Oslo-based couple have a background in avant-garde, classical, improv and jazz performance and recorded a debut album together at their home during the Covid-19 lockdown. The meditative Zvony (Bells) featured harmonium, field recordings of crickets and a Slovak male choir. This year’s follow up, Sing Nightingale, released by Slovakian label Mappa, is an intoxicating folk record. Featuring a field recording of a nocturnal nightingale, the album experiments with instruments from around the world, with the duo exploring their rich tonal textures.  

Myhr plays harmonium and double bass. Antalová plays drums, Slovakian fujara (a tall, upright wooden bass flute originally played by shepherds) and a Norwegian seljefløyte (a traditional flute very similar to the Slovak overtone flute koncovka). Their music finds a strange, soothing universality in the folk sounds of different countries.