The latest (and last) Helisir CD ‘SPIN’ came out this September and it’s a gem!

But first let’s introduce Helisir a bit more.

Helisir is the musical project and brainchild of Jacqueline Stempher. It started out as an idea for a book based around the fictive Nordic land Helisir, a Nordic equivalent of Avalon where the old Gods in ancient times met.

Over time their stories were set into music by Jacqueline and they ended up on the first Helisir album ‘Ravn’. It was produced by Jacqueline herself and could best be described as Nordic influenced ambient Pagan music. All instruments recorded were played by Jacqueline herself.

In 2016, a mini CD came out called ‘Sårbare’. It was recorded at the Dear World studio by Fieke van der Hurk and featured Jacqueline on harp and vocals in an all acoustic setting.

Now the third album ‘SPIN’ is finally here to conclude the Helisir story.

This time Jacqueline visited the Lava Studios in Copenhagen to have Christopher Juul record ‘SPIN’. The album picks up on the sound of ‘Ravn’ and is musically best described as a crossover between Dido and Euzen. (So not the voice/harp sound we have come to know through her ‘live ploink‘ streaming concerts on Facebook or the mini CD ‘Sårbare’.)


Jacqueline’s last Facebook livestream from the Netherlands, just before moving up North.


From the first seconds of ‘The Tide’ it’s clear this album is all about Jacqueline’s beautiful voice. A crossover between the laid back, fragile way of singing of Dido, the strong sound of Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, Ayreon) and a touch of Sara Weeda (SeeD, ANÚNA).

In her lyrics Jacqueline stayed close to her heart, making this her most personal album. She has put the feelings and fears she went through the past years in beautiful musical poems, partly in English, but also some in Dutch. Listen to ‘Done’, ‘Lighthouse’, ‘Ashes’ or the Dutch title song ‘Spin’ and you’ll hear how personal her lyrics have become.

Jacqueline composed all the music and Christopher Juul arranged all the songs and took care of the instruments, so Jacqueline could focus on the vocals. He managed to make the music work as a supportive partner to Jacqueline’s voice, enhancing the lyrics instead of the instruments taking over. Those who love Euzen will recognize his style with those subtle touches making the music interesting and ‘SPIN’ a CD well worth buying!


I am now left with two wishes:

1. That somewhere in the future, Jacqueline will team up again with Christopher to make more music. It would be such a shame if that would never happen again.

and

2. That Castlefest will book Euzen for their Winter Edition 2017 and they will ask them to support Jacqueline Stempher there on stage as well, so we can hear her songs live in the way they were intended to sound. Mark… Jacqueline… Christopher… pretty please??? 🙂


– Cliff


– Live concert pictures courtesy of:

Kees Stravers
https://www.flickr.com/photos/case_s