Helsinki-based singer/songwriter Islaja has created ripples well beyond Scandinavia with her unique, dreamy music that draws comparisons with impish Icelandic star Bjork.

They do share a quirky lyricism, pixie-like vocal style and a slightly kooky nature, but the similarities end there. Islaja - her real name is Merja Kokkonen - has no pop pretensions and her psychedelic compositions feature a kaleidoscope of instruments played by herself and recorded in the frigid tranquility of her home studio.

Emerging from the strong Finnish free-folk movement, Islaja is a member of three bands - including the world renowned Avarus - but she has shone brightest on her own and has three albums of eerie beauty to her name.

Her debut, Meritie, garnered plaudits from Dusted magazine and The Wire, and saw her placed in such exalted company as Syd Barrett and Nico. Since her solo live debut at Femmes Festival in Belgium in spring 2005, she has toured the US and put out her second album, Palaa Aurinkoon, to further acclaim.

Hot on the heels of her recently released third album, Ulual YYY, Islaja makes her Hong Kong debut courtesy of White Noise Records.

For all the critical clamour, the raven-haired singer remains something of an enigma outside her native country. Her lyrics (in Finnish) reveal little about her - instead vividly relating the snow-capped fairy-tale landscape she inhabits - and her website biography has only a link to a YouTube clip.

Quite what the ice maiden will make of consumer hot spot Hong Kong is impossible to fathom, but the escapism she offers us city dwellers is easy enough to see. 'Her eyes can burn a hole in you. Her songs are poems and stabbing knives,' according to one reviewer. Check her out now.

1/F Hilltop Plaza, 49 Hollywood Rd, Central, HK$150 (advance, White Noise Records), HK$180 (door). Inquiries: 2591 0499