Jo David Meyer Lysne: Henger i Luften
Hubro

Familiarity with a project's origins is fundamental to any appreciation of creative work, and Henger i Luften (Hang in the Air) by Norwegian guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne is no exception. By the young multi-instrumentalist's (b. 1994, Bergen) own account, its music originated in 2017 when he received a commission to write material to accompany silent films for an Oslo festival. Concurrent with the writing stage was the assembling of an ensemble to render the music into physical form, a move that in turn inspired him to draw from the musicians' different backgrounds during the creative process. In his words, “I tried to make space for each individual's musicianship and strong personality both in the acoustic and electronic elements of the performance.” Augmenting the leader's acoustic guitar and prepared twelve-string guitar are cello, sax, viola, synthesizer, bass, vibes, and grand casa (a large, two-headed drum).

Eight very different sounding settings (seven formally composed pieces and one collective improvisation) resulted, all custom-fitted for a cinematic viewing experience. It's worth noting that the material spawned from the initial studio recordings in Oslo was substantially reshaped, with Lysne rebuilding the pieces by editing the strongest elements from the improvs and adding more instruments. What's heard on the album is thus a transformation of what went down in the studio. Any appraisal of the final product would be incomplete without acknowledging the contributions of co-producer (and Splashgirl member) Jo Berger Myhre, who, with Lysne, brought a remarkable degree of clarity to the recording.

That all the sextet's members extended their instruments with electronics or synthesizers makes for an unusually rich sound field. Such background helps clarify why Henger i Luften parts so dramatically from Meander, Lysne's 2017 outing with Mats Eilertsen. Whereas that release emphasizes the interplay of acoustic guitar and double bass, the new one is stylistically more variegated and experimental, the focus less on the leader's primary instrument, even if it's still a prominent element on the recording; there's also less concentration on conventional song form and more on atmospheric sound design. It's easy, in short, to visualize these pieces accompanying film imagery that, based on what's presented, could conceivably have ranged from bucolic to horrifying.

At album's start, “Svalene på Årnes Brygge” quickly blossoms into a widescreen dreamscape of strings, percussion, sax, and abstract elements, with a metronomic, presumably guitar-generated pluck the thread holding the electro-acoustic display together. The album standout “Saktere dager” arrests the ear with a dazzling array of textures, including breathy sax, bowed vibraphone, and plucked cello, the result an eerie soundscape so visually suggestive no film accompaniment's needed. The greatest plunge into electronic territory arrives in the closing “Februar,” which, despite the audible tinkling of the vibraphone, sees Lysne tackling ambient soundscaping. Also provocative is the title track, which plunges boldly into abstraction when shudder, shimmer, and rumble flood the soundfield and accentuate the music's unearthly character. Here and elsewhere, tension arises between a recognizable element such as acoustic guitar, sax, viola, vibes, or cello and others less identifiable.

February 2019