Complete Mountain Almanac

Complete Mountain Almanac is a collaboration between Norwegian-born, Sweden-based singer/songwriter Rebekka Karijord and Jessica Dessner, an American poet and multimedia artist living in Italy. An intertwining of the latter's intimate lyrics and the former's acoustic compositions, their eponymous 2023 debut album also features Jessica's twin brothers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National. A mutual friend in Brooklyn first introduced Rebekka and Jessica in the late 2000s and their friendship grew over subsequent years, even as their individual careers flourished in different directions. By 2016, Rebekka had begun work on a project that would examine nature, its moods and seasons, and more subtly, issues of climate change. Inspired by her friend's earthy and deeply personal poetry, she invited Jessica to collaborate and provide the album's lyrics. The effort evolved further after Jessica's battle with cancer and eventually took the form of a pastoral folk record centered around a calendar year. Jessica's two younger brothers, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalists and producers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, were brought into the fold and the quartet met up in Paris to record their first LP. Released by Bella Union in January 2023, Complete Mountain Almanac is a stark and moving collection arranged simply around Rebekka's voice, Jessica's poignant lyrics, and the Dessner twins' acoustic guitars.
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