Three women who present themselves as pixies, mixing real and mythic realms. Three pillars: Smart theatricality; venue (a biodiverse marsh); and group name (Sen Svaja), from an Old Prussian term meaning “with family,” implying not only blood but also those adopted from outside. The sundry elements of Dowry from a Swamp work and play in the service of darkly magical folk songs, five from the trio’s native Lithuania, plus tales from Macedonia, Serbia, Norway, Turkey and the United States. The music from Dorota Girskienė, Živilė Rimšaitė and Agota Zdanavičiūtė also comes in three parts (vocals, zither, percussion) and the women provide a prologue in the album notes: On the third day of the young moon, they meet deep in the forest, in an abandoned bathhouse; after refreshing themselves with water vapor, they pull a dowry—a rich trove of stories—from the swamp. The album’s opening track, about a shepherd conversing with his flock against a shadowy soundscape, sets the rustic tone, but from then on it’s all about the fraught business of young couples—gazing, loving, complaining, separating, dreaming and regretting. In the idyllic Leno Mori a young man worships a woman’s beauty, “eyes like cherries, lips like a jewel box”. Desertion follows a romantic encounter in Mislinčius, though the story ends on a hopeful note. The lovers in Sinoć Sjala are literally star-crossed, while Aš atsikėliau is a matchmaking song with mixed signals. The worst has already occurred in Jenta, as a young woman destroys her ex-boyfriend’s belongings. Love is complicated but Sen Svaja’s dowry is perfectly measured: Minimal instrumentation provides deft balance for three beautiful, alluring voices. But be warned: Those who follow these fairies may get their feet wet. From: https://worldlisteningpost.com/2021/01/12/sen-svaja-kraitis-is-pelkes-dowry-from-a-swamp/
