Singer-songwriter Vilma Jää has earned acclaim in two far-flung worlds – opera and folk-pop – while tackling tough societal issues. Now she’s moving into games and film.

Helsinki-based singer-songwriter Vilma Jää performed at the Venice Biennale in early May as she released her second album, just a week after wrapping up a starring role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The local media – which is notoriously hard to impress – lavished praise for her performance in Innocence, the final work by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who wrote the role specifically for and with her.

The New York Times published an in-depth profile of Jää, declaring that “her voice is unlike anything in opera”. The piece includes videos of Jää demonstrating startling old Finnish and Karelian vocal techniques that she uses both in Innocence and on her new album, Loitsui ja taikoi (roughly, ‘Spells and Magic’).

“What I do with my voice in the two projects isn’t that different although the melodies and context are different. It’s based on the same vocal traditions, including similar kinds of herding calls,” she says.

“In Innocence, there’s a herding call technique from Central Finland or Pirkanmaa. On the album, the melodies are mostly inspired by Central Ostrobothnian and Pirkanmaa traditions, except “Kaunikki kotia,” which is in the Karelian style,” she explains.

I’m trying to do something good in my own way, rather than just standing by and watching the world burn.

“Mieli musta”, which she describes as “a spell for mental health challenges”, is based on Ingrian runolaulu (runic songs), while a pop track featuring guest rapper Asa incorporates the hehetys voice-breaking technique of the Viena Karelian yoik. Jää also used that effect onstage in New York and the five other cities where she’s performed Innocence since 2021.

The opera spurred a protest in Manhattan due to its depiction of a school shooting, which some saw as an inappropriate subject for an opera. Jää has never shied away from difficult, even painful, issues in her own work.

Her debut single, “Saatanan saalistaja” from 2021, is a searing condemnation of a sexual predator – and she expanded on the theme with her award-winning first album, Kosto (‘Revenge’). The 2023 release also tackled issues such as the climate crisis, addiction, gaslighting, and depression.

“My music is my activism,” says Jää.

“I’m trying to do something good in my own way, rather than just standing by and watching the world burn. I also talk about issues on social media, do benefit concerts, and so on.”

“The magical aspect is very intriguing to me”

Both albums feature songs inspired by ancient folklore that Jää has unearthed in the archives, initially while researching for her master’s degree in folk music at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy. The new album revolves around incantations.

“I usually start my process in the archives, and I was really drawn to this theme. The magical aspect is very intriguing to me. In the olden days, we didn’t have Western medicine, we didn’t have therapy, we didn’t have a fire department. We had spells, we had incantations; there was a spell for everything,” Jää notes.

“So this turned into a concept album of spells. I really hope they can help people in some way, like giving them comfort or strength.”

Judging from the response from her fan base, Jää’s spells have struck a cathartic chord, particularly among young women.

So this turned into a concept album of spells. I hope they can help people in some way, like giving them comfort or strength

“I’ve come up with spells for certain issues. For example, “Pikkarainen” (“Wee One”) is an incantation for wanting to have a child but not being able to, a very contemporary issue that some people might find comfort in. For “Myrskymimmi” (“Gale Gal”), I basically invented my own goddess, taking inspiration from folklore incantations to summon lightning.”

That’s a follow-up of sorts to “Jäinen neiti” (“Icy Maiden”), a global-warming incantation from her first album.

“This time I wanted to find multiple ways to sing about the climate crisis. For instance, “Oliko meressä vettä” (“Was There Water in the Sea?”) is based on old Ingrian runolaulu texts with my own twist,” Jää says.

Games without frontiers

Jää also dug into folk roots for two other current projects. One is “Manalan mailla,” created for the Finnish company Remedy’s upcoming video game Control Resonant, with Teemu Brunila (of the early-2000s band The Crash) and producer Jurek.

“I had no expectations because I know nothing about the gaming world,” she says.

“But based on the kind of vibe that the company wanted, I knew that Ingrian ensemble runolaulu with heterophony was the way to go, so Teemu and I wrote the lyrics in Kalevala metre. Then I offered to improvise a few melody options, and the first one I did, they were like, ‘yes, that’s good, perfect, that’s it’. We just stacked harmonies on top of that, and Jurek finished the production. So, it was fun working with them, so Jurek worked on my album as well.”

“The reception worldwide has been incredible, and people have found my albums after hearing this song in the game’s trailer,” she says ahead of the game’s September release.

The reception worldwide has been incredible, and people have found my albums after hearing this song in the game’s trailer.

The other project, due out in October, is a quieter affair: the soundtrack for the film Tell Everyone, set on a Finnish island in the 1800s.

“The director, Alli Haapasalo, invited me to do it after seeing my live show. But I’d never composed for a film before, so I called Kalle Vainio and asked if he want to collaborate,” she recalls.

Vainio, an experienced documentary-soundtrack composer, was her composition teacher and a partner on later projects.

“It was incredible, one of the best artistic experiences I’ve ever had,” says Jää. “We had the same vision: just using acoustic instruments and asking our folk music colleagues to come into the studio and start building it from there, rooted in traditional music. I can’t wait for it to be in theatres, because I want everyone to see it. It’s an incredible movie about an incredible woman and the music is also exceptional!”

Farewell to Innocence?

Since her Venice appearance, Jää has been playing the new material on a Finnish tour that continues through the summer with domestic festival gigs. She now leads an expanded five-piece band incorporating more acoustic instruments, including Jää often singing and playing fiddle at the same time, and occasionally adding kantele and jaw harp.

Some of the songs from the new album are improvised onstage, although she says that “there’s not so much room for improvisation during the summer festival gigs, when we’re doing more of the bangers from the first album.”

I want to balance between my own artistic practice and being part of someone else’s vision.

After the summer tour, Jää has concerts coming up in New York – “but I just need to get a visa. We’re working on it.” She adds that a US musical collaboration is also in the works, but that it’s too early to confirm it.

And how about Innocence, which she began working on with Saariaho nearly a decade ago – was New York her swan song in the role?

“There are new productions popping up all the time. So far there are two other folk singers, Erika Hammarberg and Venla Ilona Blom, doing the role, in Germany, Denmark and Australia. That’s great, because I don’t want to do all of them.”

Asked if she’ll ever do Innocence again, she replies:

“I’ll choose carefully. I want to balance between my own artistic practice and being part of someone else’s vision.”