Flukten – Velkommen Håp

Modern adventures in jazz and blues.

One trend I've noticed in my own listening choices over recent years is towards instrumental music. An odd thing given how much I love lyrics. The emotion conveyed by well chosen words and a beautiful voice can be incredible as we all know. But there's something about wordless music that allows you to make a stronger connection. The absence of lyrics allows a certain space to engage your own imagination.

In some way it must also up the game of the musicians involved; rather than providing backing for a vocalist, they're tasked with telling stories and conveying feeling with notes. Be it sadness, happiness, joy, despair, humour, anger or any point on the complicated spectrum of human emotion.

One recent instrumental album I've enjoyed recently is this debut by Norwegian jazz quartet Flukten. Recorded in two days at Propellor Studios, a converted old mill near the Akerselva waterfall, Velkommen Håp, (in English Welcome Hope) is a playful adventure in modern jazz. Bluesy in places, quite often jaunty and uplifting.

The record opens with it's title track, a hurried post-punk rush. It's not too long before the track's tightly played central motifs emerge from the sonic soup. This battle between improvisation and composition has long been a characteristic of jazz and Flukten honour this tradition, adding their own 21st century stamp along the way.

'Budeie Boogie' features the drums and bass kicking out a delightful R&B rumble with the guitar and sax playfully topping the track off with uplifting melodies. 'Framsyning' is an excursion into free jazz, opening with a series of guitar chords before all band members eventually join in and take the music to newer places.

There's wonderful use of blue notes in 'Barneblues' which is the closest the the band get to a tradition twelve bar format. They band return to this use of blue notes later on in 'Bleik Myrk Legg'. As fun as these tracks are, to my mind the best moments on the album are where the band venture into a more contemplative, melancholy mode, as on 'Jonas Og Hvalen' and album closer 'Blomstrene', a softly satisfying landing and nice counterpoint to the album's otherwise wild flights.

Flukten are - 

Hanna Paulsberg - saxophone

Marius Hirth Klovning - guitar

Bárđur Reinart Poulsen – double bass

Hans Hulbækmo - drums

Click here for Odin Records on Bandcamp.