The playful tranquility that Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg basks in on her Cast Anchor EP proves to be a soothing codeine cocktail, complete with summery water-trickle sound effects and a jazzy island feel. Hukkelberg's sugary sweet vocals are prominently dead center in the mix, and the rush of the delicate lap-steel/keys/wind instruments (provided by her small backup group) is her unimposing accompaniment on the path to an oft concise finished product.
"Little Professor," one track conspicuously missing from her forthcoming album, Little Things, is a flawlessly mixed live track that boasts the same low-key precision that the recorded numbers do, packaged in accordion, guitar and some percussion via bicycle. Little Things is scheduled to float out to the masses in June, with appropriately weather-timed accuracy.
