POPULAR // MARIT LARSEN // Joni was right

The album "Joni was right I & II", initially consisting of two separate EPs, is a brave pop project with a jewelry box of songs in the rearview mirror. Exposing yourself to a direct comparison with previous masterpieces is not only a great fall, it can also quickly become an insurmountable obstacle. The stumbling blocks are many, and the road down into the ditch of half-baked copies is dangerously short. Not so with Marit Larsen. Instead, she shows us new paths and new perspectives in a well-known and iconic musical terrain. In "Joni was right I & II", Larsen shines as an exceptionally reflective songwriter with a hard-won uniqueness.

Larsen has a rock-solid understanding of the musical heritage she manages as a composer, and can therefore take measured and elegant steps. Examples are the seamless and well-placed time change in the song "Bluebelle Mountain" and the rhythmically delayed melody shifts in the verse of the song "Shelby Avenue". The album is a rare well-balanced mix of musical reference clarity and a delicately restrained identity.

This album dares, and wants, to go against the flow of the present and the celebration of the moment. Larsen emphasizes life's maturation, its realizations and perhaps most importantly: The continuation. When the song "A stranger song" becomes suspended in midair, and when the lyrics "Broken hearts can keep on beating" stop the progress of the song "Winter never lasts forever", then we must move on - towards what we do not know. Exploring the strange as a source of development is not the main track of popular music, but this is where Larsen emerges as a solid pop artist. TONO's EDVARD Prize in the Popular Music category 2017 is awarded to Marit Larsen for the album "Joni was right I & II".

Photo: Sarah Winona Sortland