Action & Tension & Space - Tellus

Modern psychedelic lounge music from the Norwegian coast.

 

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a band that describe itself as a “spaced out, instrumental loungerock outfit, with added vibes of folk music, jazzy surf, psychedelia, free improvised chill-out, jangly post-rock and travelling bass”? I certainly am, but before I listened to Action & Tension & Space’s latest album Tellus, I was drawn in by the sleeve art. Several coloured spheres, simply rendered in bold colours, tell you little about the music therein, but that was part of the charm. It looks like the work of Dick Bruna, taking a break from drawing Miffy. Do they represent planets? Snooker balls? An illustration to show a mathematical law or physics experiment? Probably none of those things. The sleeve had done its job, I was taken in and keen to listen. And Tellus does not disappoint!

 So, who exactly are Action & Tension & Space? They’re a group of musicians from Haugesund on the west coast of Norway, made up of members from groups such as Electric Eye, Lumen Drones, Undergrünnen, and The Low Frequency in Stereo. Tellus is the group’s fourth long-player and one that has me gripped from beginning to end. It’s comprised of five tracks, each with a unique mood and feel. They’re stretched out with extended improvisation which never feels forced, false, or unnecessary.

 ‘Chromosomes’ is the album’s opening track, a Krautrock-ish number with guitar arabesques that have something of Will Sergeant about them. Repetition rubs up against mutation here in a most pleasing way. ‘Tellus’ follows, further encouraging a meditative state. Perhaps the calmest, most chilled track on the album. In many ways the calm before the storm…

 ‘Trinity and the Holy Ghost’ is the album’s mid-point storm, and my favourite track of them all. A ten-minute finger-snapping, mutating epic with a 5/4-time signature, underpinned by a killer double bass riff. By the time it finishes I just want to play it all over again.

 But then I’d miss out on the following number ‘Schweppes and Koskenkorva’. Named in honour of the mixer and Finland’s famed clear spirit drink, it has a suitably hazy, intoxicating vibe. Oddly it conjures up images of sun-soaked North Africa and the Middle East rather than Scandinavia’s icy climes.

Those are saved for album closer ‘The Last Petrol Station Before Hardangervidda’. According to the press release, Tellus was recorded in a tiny studio on the Norwegian coast as a heavy storm came in. This track has that ominous, stormy feel. Music that says the dark clouds are approaching. It all adds up to an album that’s hypnotic, swirling, transportive, and groovy. There’s action, there’s tension, there’s space, and a whole lot more.

 

Action & Tension & Space are –

Per Steinar Lie – lap steel, electric guitar

Øystein Braut – guitar, organ, Mellotron

Julius Lind – double bass

Ørjan Haaland – drums

Sigbjørn Apeland – harmonium, Fender Rhodes

Ståle Liavik Solberg - percussion

Tellus is released by Rune Grammofon on March 25^th