Swedish travelling minstrel, Rickard Jäverling, returns to lavish upon us further moments of heartfelt, folk-inspired beauty. Spinning Scandinavian wordless folk-songs seems like second nature for Jäverling, and these tracks show quite perfectly his unique skills. Beginning with 'Three Sisters' (which also featured on his recent 'Two Times Five Lullaby' album) we're off to an explosive start; a 21st century hoedown with eyes fixed on frozen Northern European fields rather than rickety Pennsylvanian barns. With banjo, drums and guitar, Jäverling and his band manage to distil a Tortoise-inspired post-rock intelligence and blend it with the traditional folk sounds that seem to have made their way into the mainstream once more. Side A is rounded off with the shimmering and beautiful 'Västbacken', a hazy instrumental piece of folk poetry bringing to mind bubbling streams and the beauty of a childish midsummer adventure. The EP's defining moment however comes on the flipside with the 7 minute epic 'Sultan'. It's hard to imagine a track more life affirming than this, which takes the Chicago post-rock formula and re-contextualises it for 2006, giving us something both reflective and quietly jubilant. Finishing off the disc are fellow Yesternow artists, Shoreline, who have ushered Jäverling into their ever-growing family and contributed a 'remix' which takes the original track and injects it with a sense of fun and playful abandon. 'The Three Sisters EP' adds yet further weight to the growing Yesternow catalogue, and is more proof of the subtle and measured talents of Rickard Jäverling.
