SHAKALI - Toinen Luonto SHAKALI

Finnish multi-instrumentalist Simo Hakalisto creates mosaic-like music from strings, bowls, bells, reeds, wind, water and obscure electronics, weaving subtle currents of colour and texture into deeply immersive soundscapes.

His latest album, Toinen Luonto — Finnish for “second nature” — reflects both the earthy, tactile quality of Shakali’s soundworld and Hakalisto’s growing confidence in his craft.

Across eight compositions, the music feels as much coaxed as composed, a delicate web of resonances set in motion and allowed to simmer, build and drift. Vibrations and silences intertwine in ways that are alternately pointillist and diffuse, attuned to a hidden harmony that seems to exist just beyond reach.

Alongside Hakalisto’s collection of rare instruments — including a 36-string kantele built by his grand-uncle — Toinen Luonto features contributions from saxophonist Julian Overall, Timo Juntunen of Lunar Horns on udu and percussion, American experimentalist Roy Werner, and Belgian ambient flute samplist Les Halles.

The result is a richly detailed and quietly spellbinding album that blurs the boundaries between acoustic experimentation, environmental sound and meditative composition.