Astrid Sonne is Danish viola player and composer based out of London. On January 26th, she brings us a winter’s lament with her album Great Doubt. Her viola plays somberly and beautifully through her minor keyed atmospheric tracks. The vocals are minimal, like in the track “do you wanna” which asks the simple, yet heavy question — “Do you want to put people into this world?” She does this often in her songs, taking simple and powerful ideas and repeating them in soft simple phrases, nearly spoken, but still singing.
At times her music sound has elements down-tempo Nirvana songs, other times, it features jazz-like high-hats that mix in with her own special brand of melancholy. The viola brings with it a sad, but pretty classical element. Sometimes it feels like a 1980s video game soundtrack, like it could have been the score to an antiquated version of DUNE. Sonne’s music could be a nice intermission moment at a slam poetry cafe in some frozen and forgotten Berlin Cafe.
But, the vacancy and spaciousness of her music is something to be admired. So often music is so full to the brim, that we forget the feelings that come when things are sparse and hollowed. That music brings a full spectrum of emotion, and sometimes we as humans are unsure, or in grief, or simply in winter. Astrid Sonne’s music gives us permission to not be whole, to be a little dark, or to simply be ourselves, and that is a beautiful thing.
Astrid will be going on a winter tour visiting Norway, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and the UK. Dates can be found here https://www.astridsonne.com/concerts. Listen to the entire album on Friday, January 26th, and hear the latest single “Boost” here.
The Indy Review 
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