Elina Duni Quartet - Dallendyshe (2015) 24bit

On Dallendyshe (The Swallow), her second ECM album, Elina Duni sings songs of love and exile. The troubled history of the Balkan regions has inspired many such songs and the pieces here, primarily from Albanian traditional sources, are interpreted with intensity and insight by Elina and her band.

The Tirana-born and Swiss-raised singer has become an exceptional musical storyteller, embodying the songs narratives in a way that transcends genre definitions and language limitations.

This time there is a sense of lightness to the feeling and energy of the album, says Duni. Even though we are dealing with tragic themes of exile it is not as dark as Matane Malit [Dunis ECM debut]. In its sense of drive, Dallendyshe opens up a different groove, a different momentum. Its become more rhythmic. Sometimes its almost a trance-like propulsion.

The program of Dall ndyshe also looks to the Albanian diaspora. The last two songs on the album, Ti ri ti ti klarinat and the title track are, respectively, from the Arvanitas and Arberesh communities of Greece and Italy.

Dall ndyshe was recorded in July 2014 at Studios La Buissonne in Pernes-les-Fontaines in the South of France, and produced by Manfred Eicher.