The grouping together of Hans Hulbækmo, Hanna Paulsberg, Marius Hirth Klovning and Bárður Reinert Poulsen was always going to be a dynamic affair, but by giving themselves only two days in Propellor Studios to try and recapture the essence of their live outing in February 2021, the spontaneous results could have gone any way. Thankfully, this self-imposed pressure has drawn an album out of them rich in variety and texture that covers so much ground while allowing the four players plenty of opportunity to stretch their legs.
The opening piece “Velkommen Håp” sets a frantic pace, highlighting Hans’s drumming abilities. The horn is sweet and low and the guitar jigs in and out of the shots, discordant and sharp. The whole piece fairly flies along, with the rhythm section too busy to notice the flights of fancy from sax and guitar.
The tracks roam through so many different styles from the primitive and awkward guitar and sax duet of “Framsnyning”, where they entwine around each other like sleepy cats, to the rolling blues-y post rock vibe of “Barneblues”, where the guitar and sax stutter and shake over the top of an irresistible groove that everybody clearly enjoys. The interplay between the four is quite a delight and the sounds that Marius wrings from the guitar are at times bizarre. It sounds otherworldly on “Bleik Myrk Legg”, as if he is trying to paraphrase Hanna’s sax and fool the listener, while it scratches about on the skeletal, circular experiment “Mellomspill”. The moods change as the album moves along and the airy, pastoral sketch “Jonas Og Hvalen” is all slo-mo haze and early morning stretches, peering around as a new day begins.I have to say, one of the pleasures of Velkommen Håp is how different the drumming sounds from one track to the next, and this shape-shifting helps the other players to find new expressions and different ways of structuring each track, borrowing a little here and there, veering from bop to post-rock, from bluesy swagger to gentle minimalism, but always sounding like themselves, four people in a room pushing one another but thoroughly enjoying the process.
It is that enjoyment that shines through and makes this album such a rewarding listen. Awkwardness, subtlety, strength and precision, lullabies and repetition; it all passes through the album, allowing the listener to discover more with every play. It is a lovely, playful and immediate capturing of a quartet in full flow. The band name translates as The Escape and you could do worse than lose yourself in here.-Mr Olivetti-
