Kajsa Balto (Norway)

When Kajsa Balto released her second album, Buot eallá, she doubled down on the impression left by the debut album Sámi sohka (“Sámi heritage”) in 2017 - she is at the vanguard of a truly special generation of artists from Sápmi. A generations who preserve their tradition through renewal - but who are, first and foremost, unique, soulful musical voices. Ever since her debut single “Vári Alde” in 2016, Balto has performed her material with an intensity leaving listeners hungry for mor.

Balto is a sámi artist who grew up in Oslo. This divide has formed her meeting with traditional sámi music. After her debut in 2017, she started working on original sámi material. She has written new music, based on traditions from Karasjok, where her father comes from. She has found joiks from her family tradition. Together with her band, which on Buot eallá consists of Ragnhild Tronsmo Haugland on cello, Aleksander Sjølie on guitar and Karoline Bjørhei on drums and percussion, she has created soundscapes where the romance of nature melds with modernity, with Baltos voice as a natural focal point - sometimes intimate, other times atmospheric, and dreamlike - but always strikingly present.