Niilas Holmberg & Pauli Lyytinen

The combined sound of Niillas Holmberg and Pauli Lyytinen tells listeners about landscapes where the waterline rises and falls.

Sámi poet and musician Niillas Holmberg and Emma Award-winning saxophonist and composer Pauli Lyytinen released their highly anticipated first collaborative album, Naarattu laulu, in autumn 2025.

Where are we when the poetry yoiker and the saxophonist are dragging a mythical song onto dry land, at what water? The world that Niillas Holmberg and Pauli Lyytinen bring to life through poetry, yoik, saxophone, percussion and live electronics is built on the simultaneous presence of centuries, sleep and wakefulness.

The duo’s musical world is based on channelling, improvisation and intensely listening to each other. Their art is not a product entitled Naarattu laulu; it is a verb. Art is not a catch, but an act, when a collaboratively woven net is used to drag up something ancient from the cloudy waters.

The collaboration between Holmberg and Lyytinen began in 2021, and the duo have since performed at numerous art, literature and music events in Finland, Germany, Italy and Norway. This collaboration has matured and developed through live performances.

Holmberg’s poetry has been one of the basic elements of the project from the beginning. Gummerus published Holmberg’s new collection of poems, Naarattu, in October 2025.

Duration: 2 h, incl. intermission