THE NORTHERN EAST is the baby of songwriter and composer Jukka Rintamäki, probably best know from being a member of Gothenburg band SILVERBULLIT. Rintamäki has built up one hell of a CV over the years, outside of SILVERBULLIT working on songwriting and composition for film, contemporary dance and computer games (including the Battlefield series). Now’s he’s popped up with his newest project, THE NORTHERN EAST. Founded in Rintamäki’s desire to mix music with the lyrics he’d been writing for a number of years, a full-length album is due in spring. And we’re delighted to bring you the latest single from that album, Petrified Forest, exclusively on NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION.
Petrified Forest is a fast-paced indie rock song, one infused with an icy energy and power. Guitars chime against Rintamäki’s melodies to create a song that fizzes and swirls around his vocal. Rintamäki’s desire to put his lyrics in the centreground on this project is clear from their political edge, burning with anti-nationalist indignation: ‘In the petrified forest, They make you fear a lot, But you’re not a nation, Patriotism is a joke’. Rintamäki says
“Petrified Forest came from playing with the word petrified as it means both turn into a stony substance or get very very scared, terrified. The lyrics are about people sitting and guarding something that isn’t even so important. Up in the north where I come from most of all there is just forest. An endless winter with endless wilderness.”
If he can keep this form up across the whole album, THE NORTHERN EAST might just be Rintamäki’s best incarnation yet. Petrified Forest is out on February 1st on Nordmark Records, with the debut album scheduled for spring.
—