4th November 2022: Announcing Selma Savolainen’s debut album ‘Horror Vacui’ – dropping May 2023

Severi Uusitalo

Whirlwind Recordings is delighted to announce the signing of Selma Savolainen for her debut album Horror Vacui, dropping in the Spring. Savolainen is one of Finland’s most exciting emerging vocalists who effortlessly combines Finnish folk sounds with jazz and alt singer songwriter styles, while writing highly emotive compositions for her band alongside striking arrangements.

Savolainen is an alumni of the Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program and the Banff International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music. She has studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Conservatory of Paris. In 2022 Savolainen was awarded with the Rising Talent Prize by the Pori Jazz Festival.

Horror Vacui also features some of the most sought-after musicians on the Finnish jazz scene – Max Zenger on clarinets, Tomi Nikku on trumpet, Toomas Keski-Säntti on piano, Eero Tikkanen on double bass and Okko Saastamoinen on drums. The record is a set of songs composed and arranged specifically for this sextet. It explores fear of emptiness, renunciation and sudden discoveries. Savolainen says, “by creating space for every musician’s voice we hope to create a place where solitude does not exist.”

The band will preview this new work live on November 4 at Tampere Jazz Happening 2022.

Horror Vacui will be released May 5 2023 – stay tuned for updates coming soon.