«Ediacara is one of those albums that is appealing on first listen and then your appreciation of it continues to grow. It is a very compelling and enjoyable set of covert and overt experimentalism» – Avant music news
«She starts this three-part suite with a lovely and warm trumpet tone – when she wants it to sound like a trumpet – and where she simultaneously uses electronics to create fascinating and very personal sound universes far beyond most that have touched everyone’s mind.» – Nettavisen
«Particularly effective is the second piece, «Kambrium», where, after having created a sort of noisy «powder», at a certain point the melodic sound of the trumpet seems to be «born», arise, awaken, like Venus from the shell.» – Music Map
«Holsen knows how to weave the trumpet’s full repertoire of pure-toned and long-held notes or potential noises, whether blown or percussive into well-structured yet always in a constant state of flux, into impressive soundscapes. These soundscapes are meditative, unsettling and seductive, often at the same time when each movement casts its own distinct and powerful spell on the listener.» – Salt peanuts
«The result is a really interesting whole, which gains even more depth at the end of the title track, when the melodic lines are superimposed, reinforcing the impression of echo and sound depth.» – Ether Real
«A really recommendable album for ambient fans who have their ears open to experimentally created sounds» – Handwritten
“This one’s good – imagine Arve Henriksen jamming with Bohren, Broadcast and Lasse Marhaug. Dark, sure, but with a folkloric charm that’s impossible to ignore…..Walking in Circles is the duo’s first recorded material and showcases the sound they’ve now spent a few years sculpting; if you’ve heard either artist’s solo albums (like Holsen’s brilliant “Lazuli” or Cassiers’ smokey “Nacht Slakje”) you’ll be able to guess the general direction, but their collaborative sound is deeper and dreamier than anything they’ve produced on their own. … Massive recommendation» – Boomkat
“…This album meanders like a lost traveler, or a book by Sebald. Full of echoes, the album becomes spacey and, thanks to the crackling soundscapes, sudden twists and processed vocals, it seems to belong to an Arab country that has not yet been invented. Or, in other words, the STROOM label is doing it again.” – Gonzo
“Lynn Cassiers and Hilde Marie Holsen have the gift of embrace…the further one goes into the architecture of listening, the more it is colored with supreme intimacy and sweet closeness. Lynn Cassiers: voice, objects electronics and Hilde Marie Holsen: trumpet and electronics have the gift of embrace. Seemingly distant they come to be intimate friends thanks to their intense and direct expression, concealed behind an elaborate sound construction that comes to support your slowing breath.” – Rockerilla
“The sound universe of these two artists knows no boundaries” (Le Soir)
“The album is articulated between the rough drones and dissonances of Today’s Bright, to which Cassiers’ voice lends impalpable emotion, and the dilated sounds of Opening with Holsen’s trumpet recalling the memoir and images of Jan Garbarek, passing through the noisy discomfort of Life Stages Are.” – Rumore
«The end result is music that is uniquely individual and highly distinctive. Forget any comparisons, Holsen is without parallel. Even more so than Ask did, Lazuli signals the arrival of a bright new star.»
– John Eyles, AllAboutJazz
«These pieces sound as if they have developed a life of their own, a tangible entity. Their strong, enigmatic qualities embrace alien elements and sounds, moving organically between deep meditation, through troubled dream-states to colorful sci-fi visions. (…) Highly impressive.»
– Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts
«Jeg kan ærlig talt knapt huske sist jeg kom over et så åpenbart talent. Møtet med «Lazuli» bringer frem minner om å høre Arne Nordheim, Arvo Pärt og den senere Miles Davis for første gang, som inngangsportaler til parallelle universer av musikk. (…) Det lyder vakkert og gnissende, meditativt og utfordrende, ensomt og likevel varmt.»
– Arvid Skancke-Knutsen, Klassekampen
«Holsen is a new flowering of the Norwegian trumpet legacy. In Holsen’s vertically expanding music, created on the spot, cross-fading, gritting and spreading layers of sound, crunching sand and croaking toads, permeated dune-like silhouettes and airy swathes. Finally it ran into the sound of her solitary trumpet. (…) She is a promising force and definitely a real new, strong (trumpet) voice in the electronic field.»
– Henning Bolte, London Jazz
«But the album’s depth and seriousness means it projects inwards rather than outwards. Even on headphones at full volume, you want to listen harder, to follow the trailing off sounds as they sink lower into the night.»
– Nina Power, The Wire
«From the wee Norwegian label Hubro, […] is this new release from trumpeter Hilde Marie Holsen, who also uses electronics to sketch out her odd landscapes. In this piece, a trumpet improvisation emerges out of twitching static as if picked up by a radio held up to the sky on an icefield. Holsen’s wandering melody is utterly wondrous, and met halfway through by an electronic tone that mirrors it exactly, then strays on its own course – eventually both are caught in an apocalyptic smudge of noise. Exceptional»
– Ben Beaumont Thomas, The Guardian
«Perhaps not as much geologic as alchemical, there’s an uncanny dimension Holsen somehow sculpts throughout Ask’s 45 minutes – kind of blue, but kind of other – that tenderly and masterfully attends to both melodic and textural dimensions to form a sublime sensual sound.»
– Russell Cuzner, The Quietus
«Il y a là une maîtrise évidente à un si jeune âge, qui en fait une grande réussite sonore, où chaque son, chaque texture est à sa place ; avec une justesse remarquable dans l’économie de moyens générale à la base de ce disque dont on ne peut s’empêcher de penser qu’il sera dur à surpasser – avec cette méthode de travail particulière du moins. Pas facile de prévoir donc ce que l’avenir réserve à Hilde Marie Holsen, dont la palette, bien que réduite à l’usage d’un seul instrument, est ici illimitée. Quoi qu’il en soit, ce premier jalon dans son parcours mérite une reconnaissance allant bien au-delà des frontières de sa Norvège natale, et devrait constituer une référence dans les années à venir. À l’écoute de ces 36 premières minutes publiées en solo, la jeune trompettiste le mérite en tout cas.»
– Emmanuel Reymond, Dave’s place music
«Ask is a short LP, yet deep and plentiful: indeed its heaviness and stillness, like each improvisation, is a vivid experience.»
– James Welburn, Freq