Signe Marie Rustad
Particles Of Faith
★★★
DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON. CD/DL/LP
Norwegian singersongwriter’s third album looks beyond recognisable prototypes.
Half-way through Particles Of Faith’s sixth track, Carrickalinga, the song becomes a showcase for a husky, three-minute sax solo from fellow Norwegian Harald Lassen. This is glass-voiced singer-songwriter Signe Marie Rustad’s third LP, but giving way to another musician suggests she’s unconcerned about hogging the stage. Second track I Loved You From Before executes a similar transformation when, for its last third, a mid-tempo, Joni Mitchell-esque reflection abruptly turns impressionistic: whispered, wordless vocals interweave with rippling electric piano, cymbal taps and bloopy electronics. Rustad is ostensibly in a Laurel Canyon bag here and, for the most part, satisfyingly so. Along with Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Fiona Apple come to mind as touchstones. However, left turns like Lassen’s contribution and the dive into tonal abstraction suggest a restiveness. Rustad, it seems, sees her songs as vehicles for extemporisation.