After their double live albums, the Norwegian jazz-rock prog trio of Stale Storlokken on keyboards, Nikolai Haengsle on electric bass and electric & acoustic guitars, and Torstein Lofthus on drums & percussion, take a step back from the heavy grooves associated with their music to present a new chapter of sophisticated, spacious and sonically satisfying psychedelic interplay.
Format: LP Condition: New Released: 2021 Country: Norway Packaging: LP Recorded at Studio Paradiso, in Oslo, Norway, in September, 2020, by Christian Engfelt.
Personnel:
Stale Storlokken-Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, grand piano, Eminent 310, Mellotron, Continuum
"After a solid run of five studio albums and 2019's two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect, Arrival Of The New Elders comes as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, don't let the self-ironic (?) title mislead you, they are as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, with the longest track clocking in around the seven-minute mark. Rather short, by their standards. Having built a solid live reputation even before their brilliant 2008 debut Dodovoodoo, the trio boasts what is probably the strongest rhythm section in Norway, complemented with keyboard magician extraordinaire, the one and only Stale Storlokken. And boy, does he excel himself on this album, notably with more focus on the Rhodes than before. That said, this is nothing if not another strong group effort from what has beena very tight unit straight from the outset. Seven brand new compositions from Storlokken and one from Nikolai Haengsle make way for what Rune Grammofon consider to be their finest and most cohesive album to date. Arrival Of The New Elders was recorded by trusted stalwart Christian Engfelt, with early Dungen producer Mattias Glavaring; handling the mixing duties. Storlokken started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the '90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He's also a member of Moster! and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint and Band Of Gold and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby. "-Rune Grammofon