Releases

ARTISTS

Michael Aadal guitar
Andre Kassen saxophones
Ole-Bjørn Talstad piano
Anders Hofstad Sørås pedal steel guitar
Audun Ramo bass
Gunnar Sæter drums
Stein Roger Sordal vocal on track 9

All compositions by Michael Aadal
Lyrics on Abigail track 9: Stein Roger Sordal

CD INFO

CD: LOS 122-2
EAN: 7090025831225

Recorded November 2012 by Mike Hartung at Propeller Studio, Oslo
Mixed February 2013 by Mike Hartung at Propeller Studio, Oslo
Mastered February 2013 by Chris Sansom at Propeller Mastering, Oslo
Produced by Michael Aadal Group
Front cover photo Petter Furuseth

Michael Aadal’s first delicately arpeggiated minor chord sets the scene and there is indeed a modally minor infl ection to the entire album. But rather than induce pathos, it lends a pensive solemnity to this spellbinding music. The band’s second album, ‘Abigail’ (the first was Desertion, 2008), portrays a journey through nature, lovingly crafted and driven by a group of outstanding musicians. Appropriately for a Norwegian production, the arrangements provide expansive breathing space and once entranced, you are transported to an ethereal world, which releases your mind from the humdrum and the hackneyed.
Aadal’s guitar and Anders Hofstad Sørås’ pedal steel guitar branch from the same tree and intertwine in captivating  combinations. Throughout the album there is enchanting use of repeated and shared phrases, such as the motif first stated on ‘Japan’ by Ole-Bjørn Talstad’s always sensitive piano playing and again in the group’s almost tribal vocal at the end of ‘November’. The instrumentation is like a well cast film and it’s no surprise to learn that they met and first played together as students (at the University of Agder). Michael says, “Our sound is the sum of the musicians’ individuality and I think that collectively, we create an original sound.”