If we start talking about famous Estonian bands, Ewert and The Two Dragons is one of the first that comes to mind. Simple and beautiful music with strong melodies, a cool vibe, and a folkish flavor, which is quite common in Estonian music. Erki Pärnoja used to be a guitarist in the band until their decision to disband in 2024. While still being part of Ewert and The Two Dragons, he ventured into solo work in 2015 with the release of his debut EP, Himmelbjerget. Since then, he has released multiple albums, composed music for several films, and done many performances and collaborations. His music crosses boundaries of different genres, such as indie rock, ambient music, and cinematic soundscapes. Overall, we see a portrait of a musician who, despite his success on the pop scene, took his own creative work in a very different and perhaps more interesting direction.
From one point of view, what Erki does with his own music is not that far away from Dragons, especially in the beginning of his solo career. Listen to Himmelbjerget as an example – it is pretty, it is indie, it has cool guitar hooks, and an exploding chorus. The only thing it lacks to become an indie-pop hit is a vocalist. At the same time, even here we can see some unconventional things – very interesting guitar textures in the accompaniment, a low melody starting off-beat in the beginning, a strange drum loop before the chorus, and interesting harmonies. Listen to Late August – it has a very good structure; the whole song is a gigantic build-up with lots of textural nuances, very reminiscent of the post-rock genre, and as we climb to the song’s climax, it hits you with such a simple, such a beautiful melody. This combination of complexity and simplicity is apparent throughout a lot of Erki’s music, quite often it goes above the typical indie rock balance. There is usually something a bit off: it might be a bit more complex rhythm, not very linear harmonic connection, or weird sound design. He adds a unique flavor to very familiar music.
What Erki pays a lot of attention to is the texture of the sound, which is especially apparent in his ambient albums, from which Saja Lugu is my favorite. Every sound is very distinct in that album and has a different quality. Clean and processed electronic sounds combine into something unique. I love how the natural sound of strings combines with the electric sound of pads, and I love how the colorful accordion sounds in Vana Paganamaa combine with the clarinet solo. It’s a great album to listen to during a walk in nature, immersive and captivating. Usually, ambient music is meant for the background; it’s not supposed to catch the attention, but I think Saja Lugu does an extra step to keep things musically interesting. There is simply too much variety and too much attention to detail to listen to it passively. That attention to detail also shows up in how the guitar sounds itself. It’s quite often that a guitarist has one signature sound or one tone that he or she is aiming for – Erki makes guitars sound very different from song to song. Being a guitarist myself, I admire that a lot, and it gave me a newfound interest in guitar music.
His live performances are something very much worth visiting. When playing live, he uses a guitar looper and electronics and builds the whole soundscape right there on stage. Recently, I saw his show at Uus Laine, and that was a great display of musicianship going through decades. For me personally, that was most apparent when he simply played his acoustic guitar without using anything else. When you can compose and play a simple guitar tune and captivate your audience with it, that takes a great musician to pull off. If you get a chance to see him live, I would absolutely recommend it.
I hear many things when I listen to Erki Pärnoja. I hear a lot of rock vocabulary, from light indie rock music to rhythmically complex alt-rock; I hear the orchestral sensibility of Morricone translated to guitar and electronic textures; I hear simple and beautiful Estonian folk melodies; I hear Indian classical music; I hear ambient musical spaces. It’s rare to see a musical talent of such diversity, and at the same time, his music is incredibly accessible despite its variety and complexity. I would recommend starting with the Himmelbjerget EP and then going further through his discography (bonus tip: listen to both Himmelbjerget and Efterglow while running – it works really well for me). Every album has something different to offer. And if, for some reason, you haven’t listened to Ewert and The Two Dragons, plug in Good Man Down and start dancing – it’s a fun track!
And remember to love music!
Referenced tracks from Erki: Himmelbjerget, Late August, Vana Paganamaa
Referenced EP/Albums from Erki: Himmelbjerget, Efterglow, Saja Lugu
Referenced track from Ewert and The Two Dragons: Good Man Down
Link to website: https://erkiparnoja.com/
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