Nakties Atvirukai, which translates from Lithuanian to English as ‘Night Postcards,’ is the intriguing new album from Alina Orlova.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by Tomas Zukovskij

Alina writes folk music that only she could. Sung part in English and part in her native tongue, she gives us something truly unique with her music.

Opening with the haunting and stripped-back Širdys ir Strėlės, we are at once struck by the haunting nature of Nakties Atvirukai. A piano melody sets the mood while Alina’s delicate vocals captivate. She describes the record as “a self-reflective journey through melancholic waters of hope and bittersweet escapistic illusions” and we get an immediate sense of that, even if the true meaning of her words may be unknown to Lithuanian non-speakers.

Ar Man Pasigirdo keeps things dark, invoking the atmosphere of a spooky fairground during an early, experimental highlight. Other highlights include the bluesy Kažkur Toli, the lilting Veidrodėli, the sultry, slow-swaying Amygdala, and the subtle ’60s freakout of Sedate Me. Ir Aušta closes the album in a dreamlike fashion.

Alina released her first album in 2008 and has taken her music as far and wide as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France and The Bowery Ballroom in New York, USA. Yet, we are only just now discovering her music. Better late than never, I suppose; it’s a sound that worth discovering for sure. Her new record is an album of the year contender.

Nakties Atvirukai is out now via Creative Industries. You can give it a listen below.