Juha Jyrkäs Releases “Hämärästä aamunkoihin”

Juha Jyrkäs doesn’t limit his creativity to realms of modern or past exclusively when crafting new material, and in his new single “Hämärästä aamunkoihin,” he exhibits a hybrid sound split between worlds old and new equally. Although delivered in Finnish against a remarkably atmospheric backdrop, this material doesn’t require a linguistically savvy listener to appreciate its depth of artistry. Jyrkäs makes it rather difficult to deny his abilities here, and I think anyone who samples this track’s immense textural and tonal presence is almost guaranteed to agree with me. It’s crafted for the detail-oriented music fan, but accessible through its omnipotence-like use of aural manipulation. 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/juhavaltteriilmarijyrkas/

The string element in this song undeniably contributes more than anything else to the master mix, but I don’t know that it eclipses any of the other melodic componentry in the track. “Hämärästä aamunkoihin” is a composition built on, and largely inspired by, collective force, and although its poetic sensibilities bleed from the straightforward verses into the rather monolithic musical setting they’ve been granted here, there’s clear distinction where first-person narratives end and those of a grander concept begin in this single. Jyrkäs isn’t merely looking to tell us a story lyrically, but through every inch of sonic intensity his instruments can muster. 

Structurally, there’s no getting past the old world feel in “Hämärästä aamunkoihin,” and I don’t know that you have to be an expert on European folk history to understand the difference between archaic retrospection and the all-out revival this artist affords us here. He’s not simply trying to capture a sense of historical kinship in this performance, but instead branding the air around us with a white-hot melodic presence that is his and his alone, albeit descended from icons literally responsible for the creation of songcraft. It’s epic, but something I think we can count on from Juha Jyrkäs based on the caliber of his present discography. 

There’s a brooding tone to the lyricism as it’s translated from Finnish to English that immediately struck me as potent the first time I listened to “Hämärästä aamunkoihin,” but I’m hesitant to call the track an exclusive ode to the darkness that separates us from peace and contentment when we’re lost in the throes of depression. There’s a subtext to the statements Jyrkäs assembles here that feels almost commentarial, critical even, and the multidimensionality this notion lends the song makes it impossible for me to assess its true sentiments as singular; then again, I suppose we should expect as much from someone as multitalented as this player is. 

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/H%C3%A4m%C3%A4r%C3%A4st%C3%A4-aamunkoihin/dp/B08MVHL1DY

“Hämärästä aamunkoihin” is among the more compelling international indie cuts I’ve had the pleasure of examining in the past couple of months, and while it’s devoid of the familiar cosmetic pleasantries we’re most accustom to finding on the FM dial, this could well be the song’s most prominent charm. Initially a work of ambience and avant-gardism, “Hämärästä aamunkoihin” is an agent of time travel wielded quite masterfully by Juha Jyrkäs, whose performance in its roughly four and a half minutes feels transcendent of the age he was born to make music in. 

Michael Rand