Eivør Pálsdóttir / Eivor Palsdottir

It's hard to believe that this debut, recorded in 2000, was made when Eivør Pálsdóttir was just 17. She looks young (and wearing what appears to be traditional Faroese garb) on the cover, but the range and daring of her voice are that of someone much older. Of course, the fact that she's singing in the Faro language helps — there's a mystery to it that lets the vocal tones come through without the distraction of deciphering meaning. At times there's a real sweetness to the music (she's backed by bass and keyboards), while at others, most especially "I Gøtu Ein Dag," there's a real sense of danger — think Björk prowling the landscape at night. Overall, the music refuses to fall into any one style, and the musicians do a wonderful job of keeping everything amorphous, framing the songs — several of which are written by Pálsdóttir herself — and keeping her voice very much front and center. As a singer, she's malleable and powerful, but with a little-girl quality that shines through at times; in fact, it's scary just what she can do. By its very nature, this album was destined to fall between the cracks in terms of finding a mass audience. Not only is it a disc that pushes all manner of boundaries, it's in a language understood by very few in the world. But if you can get past that, there's something wonderful here: the start of a great career.