Experimental singer Maja Ratkje released her first solo album Voice a few months after the second CD by her main group, SPUNK. The album is co-produced by Ratkje and Jazzkammer's John Hegre and Lasse Marhaug, although the term "co-produced" remains a bit vague and the collaboration could run a little deeper. The 11 pieces use only Ratkje's voice as a sound source, but they cover a wide spectrum of textures and dynamics, from echo-drenched a cappella singing (at the beginning of "Vacuum") to torturing noise assaults ("Insomnia"), going through a number of sample- and processed file-based constructions in between. Ratkje is messing with listeners' minds as she toys around with sharp contrasts of quiet / loud, soft / harsh, and seductive / painful. She knows she has a beautiful, flexible voice that can both charm and puzzle and she purposefully deceives the listener.

"Trio" starts softly with overlaid, droning textures and a voice-derived beat, only to burst into mad, distorted screaming. "Vacuum" is the magnum opus of the disc, a captivating 12-minute composition that takes listeners up close and personal with her voice. "Dictaphone Jam" makes the best out of the low fidelity of the recording device. The closing "Insomnia" is the strangest track: after an outburst of multi-tracked screams interrupted by laughter, the piece adds three postludes, each quieter than the previous one, like short dreams.

Harsher than what most people were expecting and closer to Jazzkammer than SPUNK, Voice hides Ratkje's impressive vocal prowess under a wall of electronics. After the initial shock wears off, one can only admit that it was a good idea. Recommended, but definitely not for the faint at heart.
(François Couture)

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (N), born 1973, is a performer, improvisor and composer. Her music is released on rune grammofon, ECM, Grappa and Albedo among other labels. Ratkje was the first composer to receive the Norwegian Arne Nordheim Prize in 2001 . She has studied composition at the Norwegian State Academy of Music and holds a position in composition at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). As a performer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje mainly works with her voice and various electronics and is regularly heard in connection with the girls in the improv/noise collective including SPUNK and Fe-mail with whom she shares a studio in Oslo. Her home page may be visited at www.kunst.no/majar.