You have to be paying close attention to pick up on the whispers and murmurings from the dynamic Finnish underground scene but when you catch the signals it’s usually something that needs shouting about. That certainly goes for multi-instrumentalist Antti Vauhkonen’s Oiro Pena project which has been beaming messages packed with outsider jazz innovation for a good few years now. First came a couple of digi-releases via Häzling Records in 2018, niftily re-visited on vinyl by the 2 Headed Deer label and demanding investigation. Then followed the much treasured, maybe more expressive ‘Oiro Pena’ in 2020 and 2022’s ‘Cooper’s Test’ and the rumour mill of Vauhkonen’s essential take on raw jazz spirituality cranked up another notch.

Well the signs are things maybe due to become more intense for Oiro Pena as their new album ‘Puna’ gets a wider exposure via the indispensable We Are Busy Bodies.