Wako: Wako
Øra Fonogram

Wako's fourth album might be its least cohesive to date, yet here's that rare instance where such a lack is actually a positive thing. That's because the Norwegian quartet's new recording is a document of a group in constant evolution, and consequently the release, like the three preceding it, is a one-time snapshot of the quartet before its ongoing metamorphosis carries it to the next stage. And in this particular instance there's so much creative energy emanating from each of the members that the album combusts with ideas and directions. By way of analogy, think of The Beatles' so-called White Album, another collection whose songs splinter off into seemingly all possible directions. It too isn't as cohesive as other albums in the band's discography, but it hardly suffers for manifesting such stylistic sprawl.

A perhaps even more important reason why a Wako identity is harder to pin down on its self-titled release is because saxophonist Martin Myhre Olsen, pianist Kjetil André Mulelid, double bassist Bárður Reinert Poulsen, and drummer Simon Olderskog Albertsen invited a large roster of guest musicians to add their personalities to the thirteen tunes, all of them Olsen and Mulelid originals. Supplementing the band's core sound (on separate tracks for the most part) are strings and synthesizers, extra saxophones, vibraphone and voice, and trumpet by Arve Henriksen. Each piece is an entity distinct unto itself, sonically and stylistically separate from the others yet still sharing some underlying degree of common ground.

On the physical package's inner sleeve, Wako's members share thoughts about the recording, and their words are revealing. Olsen, for example, acknowledges the challenges involved in working with three colleagues when his material's transformed by the group at the arranging stage. Mulelid sounds a similar note in conceding that the democratic nature of the band can complicate matters, especially when everyone in the group likes to be in command. Albertsen refers to a “messy but fun creative process” and summarizes much of what the album's about in his closing statement: “It seems to me that by being less hands-on about what direction to go and just letting it happen naturally, we've become more ourselves than ever before.”

Collaborators with Wako on its 2017 release Modes for All Eternity, Oslo Strings (Kaja Constance Rogers, violin; Isa Caroline Holmesland, viola; Kaja Pettersen, cello) returns for three tracks, including the opener, “For Those We Love,” an elegant exercise that flatters both parties. A languorous intro featuring Olsen dancing with the strings picks up speed, all concerned engaged in full flight before returning to the lilt with which the piece began. In the first of three quartet-only performances, “Wako Amok” sees the band aggressively navigating through tricky terrain with freewheeling, at times raucous turns by Mulelid and Olsen carving knotty paths through thick foliage. Eight tracks later, the wordless vocal presence of Sissel Vera Pettersen helps bring the fury of “Everything Comes to an End” under control.

Not everything's so frenzied. “Stjerneskipet” advances at a lurching clip, Kyrre Laastad on hand to scatter sweeping space transmissions across the band's musings with his Roland RE-201. “Le tapis volant” parts company from the other pieces in featuring modular synthesizer by Espen Reinertsen in a meditation that could pass for Weather Report in its Mysterious Traveler days. Mulelid's “When Staring Into Light, We Think” illuminates the recording with gospel-inflected pianisms, whereas the poppier “Trakterer du musikk?” digs into a robust, big band groove with Henriksen's trumpet leading a dense charge.

Many tracks see the band boldly pushing into realms of dissonance and free episodes, the move indicative of Wako's intrepid sensibility. Countering that are moments where the group riffs on established templates (be-bop swing, for example, in “Hele verden er en boble”) whilst always infusing the material with pure Wako flavour. “Grown-up Life” and “Savage Detective” swing as hard, with urgent grooves springboards for guest violinist Adrian Løseth Waade.

March 2020