Aadal: Lost Songs

A quartet consisting guitarist Michael Aadal, saxophonist André Kassen, bassist Audun Ramo and drummer Gunnar Sæter, Aadal are an individual outfit in that they undoubtedly serve up music that falls into the wide genre tag of jazz, but that they seem much more interested in what happens after that. The outlook from the outfit is always one built from conversation between the four musicians involved and yet, the results often feel like they are more based in the world of electronic soundscapes or maybe even moody rock than you’d anticipate. Right from the opening trio of “No Man’s Land�, “The Compass� and “Streams�, the desire is to transport you to the wilds of this outfit’s Norwegian homeland, something which steers things in a different direction entirely.

Beautiful, at times wistful and often otherworldly, the clear technical ability on show is nearly always put to one side in favour of creating moods and colours that paint pictures of other places and other times. Calm and relaxing, the likes of “The Hunter� maybe plays more to jazz type, and yet even here the structures are loose, flowing and at times so keenly built on atmosphere that you feel almost part of what’s being created. Therefore, even the easy but clear beat of “The Great Divide� jolts you out of your seat, but once you settle down, again, it’s the close contact of the different instrumental lines that draws the ear. That all said, it might just be the closing, conjoined pair of “Opening - Woodlands� and “Woodlands� that shine the strongest light on what’s being constructed, the slow, building tone making it very difficult not to simply be swept up in the whole experience. Titled Lost Songs, I’d suggest the meaning behind that album name is that these are sounds to both lose yourself in and forget the outside world to. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need.

Track Listing
1. No Man’s Land
2. The Compass
3. Streams
4. Dawning
5. Into The Light
6. The Hunter
7. The Great Divide
8. Chronicle
9. Opening - Woodlands
10. Woodlands

Added: September 1st 2022
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Aadal on facebook
Hits: 529
Language: english

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