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| Estonia's Rising Stars Duo Ruut Release Exquisite New Song In Time for WOMEX '22 Estonian folk musicians seem to have a creative knack of taking traditional folk songs and re-creating them into extraordinary and popular tracks. Duo Ruut have been carving a name for themselves since they first started performing together in 2017. As rising stars in the Estonian folk scene, their debut album, "Tuule sõnad" achieved national recognition scooping Debut Album of the Year by Estonian Ethno Music Awards in 2020. 'Liisa pehmes süles' which translates as 'In Lisa's Warm Embrace' is being released as the duo's new single to coincide with their WOMEX performance in Lisbon on October 20. Duo Ruut whose name translates as 'duo square' unusually share one zither – Katariina plucks the strings while Ann-Lisett Rebane uses uses percussive sticks against its side. Impressive vocalists with no pretensions, their love of music runs deep and despite minimal instrumentation, they create and sing songs with heart, soul and impact. Joined by an Estonian zither and their love of their Estonian heritage, Katariina Kivi and Ann-Lisett Rebane draw influence from both the beliefs of different cultures and their own contemporary and emotive songwriting. 'Liisa pehmes süles' is a folk song from the Estonian-Siberian village in Kalatšinski region and was sung by Sohvi Benfelt, Maria Einbaum, Miina Einbaum ja Pauliina Kondrova in the year 1995 and later released by the band Tintura. Duo Ruut carefully set about re-working the harmonies and arrangement while maintaining the original lyrics. The song takes you to a journey of emotions in many ways as Duo Ruut explain, "This captivating love song brings you back to 1995 and Estonians in Siberia. The song tells a story about a broken love - the one wasn't faithful and broke a man's heart. It combines old & new, humanity & craving, all of which took on a strong and different meaning in context of all the Estonians banished to the Russian territory during the last century. We think it is an important story to tell, considering the circumstances in the world today". Duo Ruut's unique sound and live presentation show they are not afraid of exploring intimate performances with a minimal line-up while maintaining great prowess and strength. Katariina Kivi and Ann-Lisett Rebane have natural allure, they work in unison. Their combined talent with mesmeric performances inspired the following words from Simon Broughton at Songlines, "At first it seems very minimal, but then it becomes transfixing. They have ethereal voices and slowly draw you into the world. There was a real buzz among the delegates afterwards." Duo Ruut is firmly on the road to national and international music success, garnering a lot of support along the way from the Estonian music scene and organisers of music arts grants. Duo Ruut's mission is the same, "From the very start, one of our missions has been to keep the Estonian traditions alive while simultaneously creating and playing such music that we ourselves would love to listen to. Part of this is using the Estonian language and traditional texts that were picked up from our ancestors. We also get a lot of inspiration from other genres too, which makes us look further from the folk scene and helps to be more innovative and experimental.' Formed in 2017, Duo Ruut and have already toured in Europe, Uzbekistan, Japan at festivals like Eurosonic Noorderslag, Celtic Connections, Stimmen Festival, BAM Festival, Tallinn Music Week. Duo Ruut's music has been supported by international media such as MOJO, Songlines, The Arts Desk, Louder than War, Full Moon, National Public Broadcasting Italy (NO RAI), Estonian Public Broadcasting and many more. Katariina Kivi and Ann-Lisett Rebane craft their music with unison, exquisite harmonies and creative musical expressions that have already shaped success for them in Estonia and growing critical acclaim at an international level. 'Liisa pehmes süles' will be released on October 13, 2022. write your comments about the article :: © 2022 Jazz News :: home page |