Biography

The sensitive and skilled interpreter Aili Ikonen released her solo album Helposti palavaa in February 2023.

Aili Ikonen, one of the top jazz singers in our country, released her fourth solo album in February 2023. Helposti palavaa is a stylistically rich musical journey - a record of ambitious organic pop music. In the songs, Ikonen's background as a jazz interpreter and composer can be heard, but there are also echoes of folk music and the singer-songwriter tradition, as well as film music and theater expression.

The lyrics of the Finnish-language album are insightful, touching and in some places playfully prickly, such as the single Miehen kylkiluu. Thematically the album deals with figuring out one's place in this time in different roles - as a person, a woman, part of society and a larger continuum. The name of the album Helposti palavaa refers to the passage of time, and how short life is. It also refers to reflections on one's own limits. How far should they be stretched? How to live your own life with a bright flame without burning out?

"One essential observation has been to see oneself as one small part of a wide continuum, a chain of generations", says Ikonen, referring especially to the song Pariisi (Laulu isoäidille) found on the album. The song was written for Ikonen's grandmother, but also comments more broadly on the trials of the generation that experienced the war. "When I composed the song, the war seemed like a very distant topic in Europe, but now the song has taken on a very different tone due to the world situation," the artist reflects.

Ikonen's trusted acoustic jazz quintet, featuring trumpeter Janne Toivonen, saxophonist William Suvanne, pianist Tuomas J. Turunen, bassist Mikko Pellinen, and drummer Mikko Arlin, plays alongside her on the album. A new, more experimental expression through electronics and abundant instrumentation has also been brought in, as well as guests, such as the acting legend Seela Sella and Jussi Chydenius, Ikonen's bandmate from Rajaton on the song Juosta.

Tracklist

1. Alku
2. Juosta
3. Hehku
4. Pariisi (Laulu isoäidille)
5. Häälaulu
6. Miehen kylkiluu
7. Perhonen
8. Kauniisti kadoksissa
9. Peilikuva
10. Tunteet