“Halka” (2013) by Halka

Its really interesting how the ancient Sevdah, music genre from Bosnia that goes centuries back to Ottoman empire and is best described as soulful crossroad between Slavic melancholy and Turkish storytelling, still lives on in a new clothes. This traditional folk music have probably initially passed on from generation to generation orally until post-WW2 recording companies in Yugoslavia started to offer recordings by local singers who established what is now considered classic canon of Sevdah music - people like Safet Isović or Himzo Polovina have unearthed some incredibly old songs and not only saved them for posterity but cemented the rules how this music should sound. It became sort of cultural trademark of Bosnia and no matter what other music trends came and went, it was genuinely accepted that only artists of highest calibre are capable of performing true Sevdah the way it was supposed to sound. It is something so ingrown in national psychology, culture and past that nobody gets surprised when even people who otherwise sing pop, burst into Sevdah in their after-hours, relaxed times.

With international recording companies interest in so called world music, it was just a matter of time when someone will realize that Bosnian Sevdah can be marketed as well as Portuguese Fado or such - local Gramofon immediately seized this Bosnian band, specialised in hard-core traditional folk music and allowed them to show how it can be surprisingly interesting and re-defined in new century without losing any of its heart. Guys in Halka band are playing like true virtuosos and although music by itself is already highly delicate and brilliant to hear, the main focus is singer Božo Vrećo who was born with voice that puts him in the class with any of Sevdah titans from the past - he is probably very controversial back home because of his unusual, androgyne image but his talent is undisputed and indeed, no matter what kind of frock or hairstyles he wears, he does sound like a nightingale. Along with wonderful Amira Medunjanin he is probably the most talented new cornerstone of Sevdah the way its played and recorded these days.