Poets of the Fall – Children of the Sun 2020

The experience of listening before watching worked so well before that I renewed it with Children of the Sun 10th episode of Poets of the Fall Alexander Theatre Sessions.

As I always get overenthusiastic with everything that has to do with Poets of the Fall I tend to be a bit forgetful about let’s say: video descriptions 😉 So, when I heard the strings at the beginning of Children of the Sun, I thought to myself, cool Captain found a way to add strings with his magical wand… or something, which sounds totally bonkers, but not totally impossible you’d have to agree.

Anyhow, I listened to Children of the Sun from early in the morning until the premiere’s chat, and no I did not get tired of it at all… Au contraire! Not once did I check the description while marvelling at the violins… I was busy working, which could have been another contributing factor to my lack of curiosity. So, when I joined the chat and read Triosis+ I was completely lost.  😆

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In the end, I caught on and got super excited to discover the video was shot by, none other than director Miika Hakala. Could it get any better? “Oh yes it could, precious”! The entire band’s here!!! Marko, Markus, Olli, Jani, Jaska and  Jari finally… without forgetting the guests Triosis+. Will the musicians set up be the same for the next two videos? God, I hope so.  😀

Children of the Sun’s video

Had I not known that Miika would be involved, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that he was. It means that he kept the spirit of the videos, and also that I am not familiar enough with his work to recognise it yet. This being said, Miika‘s done a beautiful job capturing the joy and the somewhat tranquillity of the music.

He had help from Mauri Hiltunen and none other than our very own Tiia Öhman. AND, to be completely fair, multi-talented Markus Kaarlonen directed the video which is why the Alexander Theatre Session’s spirit is as strong as ever.

I know I always rave about Jani‘s smile (still do, especially in this video), but there is a beautiful synergy between all the musicians. I would guess that the participation of Triosis + has a lot to do with that. The dynamic is changed with the ladies’ participation… I wish I knew their names though, to give them proper credit.

All, I can tell you is that when I watched Children of the Sun, I had a wave of happiness that took hold of me, which in these difficult times is most precious.

Smile after smile

There was only one who smiled only in the inside… but from Jaska & Olli to the Triosis+ ladies, to Jani to Captain and occasionally Marko. The spirit of the song was on all their faces. Thank you for capturing the joy. The four smiles below made my day!

Orchestration

The orchestration of Children of the Sun is flawless. Now, I’ve gotta ask: how did they work it out? I mean, did Captain wrote the strings part on his own, with Olli, with Triosis+ ? I’d love to get a new interview specifically about the Alexander Theatre Sessions that’d be fun… ok, getting off track… I can tell you one thing though, this is Children of the Sun “best-est” version ever. It’s clever, light, joyful and played perfectly. At the risk of repeating myself, Jani at the bass is such a treat to listen to and watch. I cannot really explain what it is, but I feel grounded when I hear it.

Ten musicians on stage, who was the conductor do you think? I think Marko because all looks gravitated in his direction. When you think about it, 3 violins and 1 cello facing 2 guitars, 1 bass, 1 percussionist… then you have the grand-piano and the voice. It reminded me a little bit of a lovely strings concert I attended in Prague, in this church where they shot the movie Amadeus. No voice or conductor there though.

Triosis+, Poets touched by grace

Three violins and a cello (?)… four astounding lady guests who lifted the song to the very best version of itself. They brought in even more magic and I believe they are the reason for the big smiles on our Poets‘ faces. Children of the Sun was touched by grace. I love the way they look at each other while they are playing. They are just like Poets of the Fall in that sense. Technically, I cannot say how great they are, all I can say is that I loved them.

Voice

The set up puts Marko in the middle, a bit above the others… and what I see is perfect symmetry (except maybe for Markus being in the background at the grand-piano, but I am sure he enjoys that). I have a very romantic image in my head when I watch/listen to Children of the Sun at the ATS. The music, as musical notes, floating gently in the air and heading towards Marko to carry his voice even higher.

In the video’s comment, someone pointed very justly at Marko‘s level of control being unreal. I agree! With this song, however, it is difficult to focus only on Marko‘s voice. When you do though, you realise that he’s the one driving. Marko does not sing only with his voice but his entire body. His hands are discretely setting the tone of his words, and like honey the story he tells goes down to every inch of my skin. Those words holds such a strong meaning to me:

And you know you can take this story, take your glory, make your own way
Yeah I want you to shake this story, take your glory, find your way
Make your own way

This songs brings me joy and hope that anything is possible. The way he sings those lines makes me believe… when Marko sings with a smile, there is no way I cannot believe and feel that I too can make it to wherever I wanna go… even if I have to wait for the storm to pass.

No matter how often I listen to Children of the Sun, the vocalise (is that the correct term?) at the end get my eyes overflowed… but I embrace it, because it is a feeling of well-being and God knows we need that.

Last words

The last images of these ten incredible musicians on the stage of the Alexander Theatre… after a while it almost looked like they all held their breath with a huge smile on their faces. I mean, can it get any better than that? It probably will… until then, thank you Poets of the Fall and Triosis+ for this brilliant, dreamlike, parenthesis in our daily routines.

Thanks for reading!
If you’re not all caught up on your reading, check the other Alexander Theatre Posts

Photo illustrations: all stills are borrowed from the video credits to those who filmed and those who edited.