Rymden, the post-jazz trio of Bugge Wesseltoft, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström has released its second foray into the outer limits, hot on the heels of 2019’s Reflections And Odysseys, and it continues in a similar vein but pushes the explorations and interesting syntheses a little further abroad. As essentially a piano, bass and percussion trio, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is a limited scope, but due to the fact that all three introduce electronics to the pieces and Bugge moves from piano to Fender Rhodes to Moog, there is a lot of fascinating textures and juxtapositions to be enjoyed on Space Sailors.
There is a really distorted acoustic bass on the opening of “The Life And Death Of Hugo Drax”, and wouldn’t it have been perfect if this had been used on the film of the life of that arch Bond villain. The piano meanders from heavy dissonance to a pretty cyclical pattern as the trio pick up on a post-rock style anti-rhythm which darts and sweeps about. It feels like it is just the bass attempting to hold it together while the piano is joyous and skittish, settling then expanding, running haphazard, squeezing the convoluted imaginary life of Drax into a mini-epic that stands up to any bombastic Bond workout.
It is great stuff which the classic Jaki Liebezeit drum style of ‘The Spacesailor” reduces to simple efficiency. There is clearly a whimsical levity to the idea of a star sailor’s life for Rymden, a trouble-free decision that takes in some library- like electronic vibes and an electronic piano that seems to wink at you as if in a ’60s cigarette ad. There is an almost waltz-like pattern to the rhythmic sweetness of “Terminal One”, which gives the bass plenty of opportunity for its own meandering exploration. The drummer has a workout in that crisp John McEntire style and it is as close to classic jazz as they dare to step.The mournful mood of “Pilgrimstad” is very much at odds with the rolling tension of the two-part “Arriving At Ramajay”. The echo of the Rhodes hangs in the air, while the insistent rhythm creeps up on you, and the way that the drumming builds in intensity is great and sounds like the beating of shop shutters. A romantic breakdown is a surprise and it just goes to show that this isn’t one person’s show, but a merging of mercurial talents. There is always space for everyone and they all go towards building an atmosphere.
Memories of Starsky And Hutch abound on “The Actor (Gonzo Goes to Pasadena)”, with its funky little hopscotch stop-start beat and it just sounds like a lot of fun; and the repetitive hypnotic piano riff of “Free As A Bird” brought to mind the springlike lilt of Billy Joel‘s “Summer Highland Falls”, its juxtaposition with Gamera-era Tortoise being a beautiful moment. As the album comes to a close with the gentle “Sundan Outro”, you can’t help but be swept along by the brightness of the ideas and the sheer joy of the playing. It comes from jazz, but that is just a starting hint before they head off unbounded into new territory. Exciting stuff.-Mr Olivetti-
