The Well by Tord Gustavsen Quartet

I’ll be frank and call this a return to form after the, err, courageous (minister?) vocal minimalism of Restored, Returned. That singer/poet lady has been banished to whence she came (ECM’s rising tenor star Tore Brunborg stays, all breathy and sultry) so we now have a quintet. Tord remains blessed with an apparently infinite collection of melodies that shouldn’t work but do lodge themselves. As you might expect, this is mood music first and foremost, and there are occasions when I wanted to kick the drummer in the pants to get them moving, but there’s always another cinematic melody or three around the corner to beg, nay demand, your Nordic forgiveness. Alright, I admit it’s lovely.

Richard Mohr is a friend of Readings