Pond

Since Huntsville was established in 2006, the trio has cut it's own distinctive musical diamond with impressive integrity. Each new release from the trio is an event. Now, after over a hundred concerts and with a substantial number of releases behind them, they are more distinctive than ever. Huntsville's music is the result of collective improvisation, and lies at the musical interface between rock, electronic music, free improvisation, and a long list of other genres. Reviewers have described the music as Morricone-esque dreamscapes and Americosmische, and as an amalgam of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, and early Tortoise. Huntsville has previously collaborated on concerts and projects with Hanne Hukkelberg, Sidsel Endresen, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, and Thurston Moore. The trio's previous release, Past Increasing, Future Receding (HUBRO 2521 CD/3521 LP, 2013), was recorded in Tomba Emmanuelle, a room with exceptional acoustics and a long-lasting echo. The dramatic setting led the band into a darker and more heart-stopping musical landscape than on previous albums. There are still traces of this darker landscape on their fifth album, Pond, although this album also showcases new sides of the band. Pond is the result of a successful session in the Oslo studio AmperTone with sound engineer Johnny Skalleberg. The album was recorded and mixed in the course of a week, and the band describes the process as very inspiring. Ivar Grydeland plays electric guitar, pedal steel, and electronics this time. Ingar Zach has expanded his percussion set-up with timpani, and Tonny Kluften's distinctive bass playing is given more freedom to stretch out than on the band's previous albums. Perhaps most striking this time is how clearly the musical personalities of the three different musicians are able to emerge. Through four long tracks we encounter a band that is true to it's own sound and idiom, but never stands still.