Funeral Folk is a musical collaboration between Swedish folk violinist Sara Parkman and spectralist composer Maria W Horn, with additional accompaniment by Mats Erlandsson. Together, they explore the rituals of grief and the musical phenomenology of death through their respective crafts and influences. The project will make its UK debut at Supersonic, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
Maria and Sara’s musical relationship dates back to their teenage years, when they played in the same band in their hometown of Härnösand in Ångermanland, Sweden. With Funeral Folk, they return to this shared background, drawing on sacred songs, spectral music, black metal, and folk melodies from their home region. As part of the creative process, they studied lamentation techniques from Finnish Karelia – traditionally used to express both personal and collective grief and sung at funerals to guide the deceased on their final journey. Alongside these meditations on death, Funeral Folk also embraces themes of renewal and reincarnation, with celebratory undertones woven into its complex compositions.
“Horn and Parkman have deep-rooted chemistry, and their respective approaches are symbiotic. Within the sorrow and gloom, even if the intensity of those emotions are at the core of Funeral Folk, they still weave in moments of softness and light.” – Foxy Digitals
