Hanne Kolstø – While We Still Have Light

Hanne Kolstø's latest boasts a cracking USP: While We Still Have Light is the Norwegian's fifth album in five years. In an age where artists routinely disappear for that long while they sniff out their elusive muse and tweak the hedge fund, Kolstø remembers what it is she does for an actual living. An album every year. Oh my. For those of us who've been properly asleep, the back-tracking starts here. While We Still Have Light is a breathtaking high gloss spectacle, a showcase of deep songcraft and rich musicality. 

For once the greats come to mind: Canada's unsung genius Jane Siberry, for one, and if Kolstø's countrywoman Susanne Sundfør's Ten Love Songs has stolen your heart, this is most definitely for you. Soaring hyper-balladry dominates: taut percussion, sumptuous strings, crisp keys. But on This Town, when she swoons, "I feel so weak beside you," her (genuinely staggering) voice exposed fully for the first time, prepare to cave.  A genuinely thrilling discovery. [Gary Kaill]