Stein Urheim has been recording for the best part of ten years now and this is his sixth album for Hubro, but you can’t even try and pigeonhole it just by the label. Clearly, Stein has an ear for anything good over the history of music and distils all this down to his own special recipes.
The gliding theremin-like sounds of the self titled opener, when infused with bass and drums, set a vibe bubbling under with tension. It could go anywhere with this kind of meandering opening, but the vibes-led Brubeck jazz of “Brave New World Revisited Again” is not what I was expecting. I kept hearing hints of “My Favourite Things”, with the easy roll of the drums gently willing things along. Is that a sitar picking a delicate melody as Stein surprises us again with his mellifluous, sleepy voice joining in? In some respects this is the perfect title for the song, as they take something familiar and inject it with unexpected DNA, and we find Stein’s modern concoction travelling arm in arm with a hint of jazz tradition.
Having two percussionists on board means the tracks are rippling with subtle rhythmic inflections and joyful canters across a selection of widescreen vistas. On “Amalfitano”, a sitar with deftly swinging rimshot-filled propulsion frames a spare Americana-influenced foreground, rippling with slide guitar and sweet harmonics. There is a ’60s inflection and a cowboy canter that is without the inherent tension and finds itself filled with a kind of carefree bonhomie. The whole album feels outdoorsy, with a soft cinematic quality of diffused light and wind-sheltered shade. “Sound” shivers and shimmers in cold light, but is constantly moving, while the touch of post-rock in the faltering tempos and shuffling rhythms of “Free To Go” gives a freedom of expression that leaves options open for everyone to throw a fluffy spanner into the works; a gentle roll here, a subtle fill there or a spray of guitar that evolves into something longer. There is a Spanish flourish on “Lamp” along with the pretty guitar figure that opens the piece, and they lay against an almost martial drum strut that causes the piece to veer from drama to theremin-fuelled clear-sky gentleness in the wink of an eye. Although the album is mainly rooted Stateside, it travels all over that dusty land, finishing up in a mirror image of Laurel Canyon. Final track “Poor Moon” has a kind of rooster swagger, with the slide guitar and harmonica shining in your eyes as you drop the brim of your hat to see out across the valley below. There is some really striking drumming here which is innovative and compelling, and keeps the listener glued as the sun sets and the piece turns into a campfire spiritual, Stein’s voice once more given an airing and lulling us to introspection as the stars appear above.This is a real unexpected pleasure of an album that is filled with surprises and fluid, harmonious musicality. Downhill Uplift isn’t a Western album as such, but it is hard to categorise it all. Just allow its subtle charms and melting pot of ideas to befriend you.
-Mr Olivetti-
