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Wildbirds & Peacedrums are charismatic singer Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werlin. Together the Swedish duo have forged an extraordinary hybrid of spiritual pop, primal blues and ecstatic soul music. Seesawing between pagan rhythms and sparse, bewitching ballads, their self produced debut is a declaration of intent; immediate, exhilarating, and just plain new. Mariam's uninhibited, skin pickling vocal expressions invoke blues performers like Bessie Smith through to the spookily evocative folk singing of Mary Margaret O'Hara. With a fiery passion of all her own that encompasses moods from the heavy spiritual lament of "I Can't Tell In His Eyes" to the raw gospel exclamation of "Bird" with just pulsing bass drums accompanying Mariam's ululations, to the rock & roll handclaps, crash, bang and wallop crescendo of "Douby/Hope", she is a mercurial talent with a breathtaking emotional depth.