The Squid's Ear Magazine


Mollestad, Hedvig Trio: Bees In The Bonnet (Rune Grammofon)

Reuniting after four years, guitarist Hedvig Mollestad with Ellen Brekken and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad deliver six tracks that fuse hard rock riffing, progressive jazz, and psychedelic exploration, balancing raw power with nuanced improv, from searing grooves and shifting meters to poignant balladry, in seamless interplay of exhilaration and deep expression.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen-guitar, vocals

Ellen Brekken-bass

Ivar Loe Bjornstad-drums


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 7033662022373

Label: Rune Grammofon
Catalog ID: RCD 2237CD
Squidco Product Code: 36191

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: Norway
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Amper Tone Studio, in Oslo, Norway, by Bard Ingebrigtsen.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"After an outpouring of seven acclaimed albums over a decade, accompanied by rapturously received touring all over Europe and North America, it's been nearly four years since the Hedvig Mollestad Trio released their triumphal seventh album, Ding Dong. You're Dead. Mollestad's pent-up delight in reconnecting with cofounders Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjornstad (drums) pervades Bees in the Bonnet's thirty-seven adventurous, invigorating, beautifully baffling yet accessible minutes as they continue to blur boundaries between progressive rock and jazz and heavy psychedelia with their signature telepathic chemistry, nuanced sonority and uplifting spirit."-Rune Grammofon



"Supported by her faithful trio, Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad continues to amaze with her explosive blend of instrumental hard rock and progressive jazz. The six-track album Bees in the Bonnet arrives four years after Ding Dong. You're Dead and features Ellen Brekken on electric bass and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums. The trio has been playing together for 15 years now.

"See See Bop" is a hauntingly pretty track-its title and sound nodding to ZZ Top-driven by a vigorous rhythm and defined by the full-throated abandon of power chords, sturdy bass lines, and intrepid drumming. A strong sense of structure anchors the piece, with nuanced tempo shifts and a bluesy tonal detour for the guitar solo.

"Golden Griffin" mixes folk-metal riffage à-la Steve Vai with spiky, chromatic soloing. It's not the only track co-written by Mollestad and Brekken. There's also "Bob's Your Giddy Aunt", which opens with psychedelic textures and loose drumming before evolving into stylish funk rock, then prog-rock fury, and finally a Rage Against the Machine-esque burst powered by odd meter; and "Apocalypse Slow", which amps up the distortion in an alternative metal that mutates and shapes each time with a different mood and intensity.

The jewel of the record is indisputably "Lamament", a balladic tribute to Mollestad's father. Rooted more in jazz, it unfolds over a slow 10-beat bass groove, with delicately brushed drums and volume-swelled guitar tremolo, offering a poignant, mindful atmosphere rich in emotion. Also noteworthy is "Itta", named after Doctors without Borders' project coordinator Itta Helland-Hansen, which pairs staccato guitar and bass with a swaggering drum flow before shifting into a melodic passage guided by an additive septuple meter.

With tightly locked rhythms and strapping guitar work, Bees in the Bonnet generates that kind of energy that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout."-Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trails


Artist Biographies

"Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen (born 4 February 1982 in Ålesund, Norway) is a Norwegian musician (guitar, vocals and composing). She is known for a series of album releases and collaborations with musicians like Jon Eberson, Jarle Bernhoft and Hilde Marie Kjersem.

Thomassen is a graduate from the Norwegian Academy of Music, and collaborates in a variety of rock and jazz bands, including her own Hedvig Mollestad Trio, Thomassen Trio, Bronco Busters, Songs and Sweet Potatoes, and VOM (as "Mester Pøggs"). She also has a central role in the bands of Jarle Bernhoft and Hilde Marie Kjersem, and has performed within Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Thomassen was awarded "The young jazz talent of the year" at Moldejazz in 2009, and showed up on a gig within Jarle Bernhoft Band at the 2011 Kongsberg Jazzfestival. When she released her debut solo album Shoot! (2011) leading her own trio, the music bears little resemblance to what she plays within Jon Eberson Group and the bands of Hilde Marie Kjersem and Jarle Bernhoft.

Hedvig Mollestad Trio (also referred to as HM3) consists of Hedvig Mollestad (guitar, vocals), Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (drums). The trio has received numerous appraising reviews internationally, for both their studio albums and live performances. Their music is inspired by 70s heavyrock, but creates a peculiar musical mixture of ingredients like free jazz, prog and psychedelia. On its website the band describes their own music as "Outgoing & progressive instrumental rock". Since the trio's formation in 2009, HM3 has played many concerts and jazz festivals in both Norway and abroad and they have toured in Europe, Malaysia, Japan and the USA."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedvig_Mollestad_Thomassen)
9/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Ellen Brekken (born 20 June 1985) is a Norwegian jazz musician who plays upright bass, bass guitar, and the tuba.

Brekken was born in Tynset, Norway. She attended the Toneheim Folk High School in 2005, and completed a bachelor's degree in Improvised Music on the jazz program at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo from 2006 to 2010, including a period of exchange studies in Cape Town, South Africa. She is leading a 7-mans folk/jazz big band called Gruvar with co-composer Lars Jakop Rudjord and she has also led her own Ellen Brekken Quartet including Dag-Filip Roaldsnes (piano), Eskil Sæter (guitar) and Jon Audun Baar (drums). Brekken also collaborates within Hedvig Mollestad Trio including with Ivar Loe Bjørnstad, releasing the albums Shoot! (2011), All of Them Witches (2013), "Enfant Terrible" (2014), Black Stabat Mater (2016) and the live album Evil in Oslo (2016) . For the album "All of them witches" they were nominated to the Norwegian "Grammy" award in the rock category. She also plays in the band MAAR, which play Norwegian folk music and was nominated for Folkelarmprisen for their album "Vrangsvevd". She has been working a lot for Concerts Norway (Rikskonsertene), different theatres in Norway (Nationaltheatret, Folketeatret, Oslo Nye teater, Trøndelag teater) in addition to playing with musicians such as Espen Rud, Staffan William-Olsson, Frode Nymo, Bugge Wesseltoft, Frode Alnæs, Jens Wendelboe, Aasmund Nordstoga, Ine Hoem and she is currently a member of Caledonia jazzband and plays with artists such as, Lise Hvoslef and Kjetil Flatland. She also leads the band Du og jeg og vi 2 - 3 - 4, playing music for kids."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Brekken)
9/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (born 1981 in Surnadal, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz and rock musician (drums), brother of the dancer Marit Loe Bjørnstad (1983) and the singer Ingebjørg Loe Bjørnstad (1978).

Bjørnstad studied jazz at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo together with Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen and Even Helte Hermansen (guitarist of Bushman's Revenge). With an origin as a rock musician, he also mentions the guitarist Bill Frisell as one of his inspirations, accompanied by the major Norwegian drummers Audun Kleive and Per Oddvar Johansen. He resides in Oslo, and has since the turn of the Millennium collaborated with countless bands and constellations in a variety of genres. He has collaborated with artists like Bjørn Kjellemyr, Jon Eberson, Karl Seglem, Ken Stringfellowcurrently, and currently (2013) play within the bands Hedvig Mollestad Trio, the Hilde Marie Kjersem Band and Cakewalk. The debut album Shoot! of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio was recorded live in the studio with only a few minor overdubs."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_Loe_Bj%C3%B8rnstad)
9/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. See See Bop 04:32

2. Golden Griffin 06:02

3. Itta 05:57

4. Bob's Your Giddy Aunt 06:04

5. Lamament 04:50

6. Apocalypse Slow 08:14

Related Categories of Interest:


Rock and Related
Progressive Rock
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Rock Forms
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

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Rune Grammofon.


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