Nils Petter Molvaer Stitches 2LP

Nils Petter Molvær is one of the most prominent performers within an electroacoustic, improvised/composed musical hybrid that has become a genre of its own, and where he is both a pioneer and a veteran.

In addition to being an acclaimed trumpeter and composer, Molvær is also a seasoned band leader with a talent for choosing the best team possible, providing a well designed framework for them to work within, and leaving room for them to enhance his vision.

On Stitches, Molvær collaborates with drummer Erland Dahlen, bassist Jo Berger Myhre, and guitarist Johan Lindstrøm. The recording process started at Ocean Sound Recordings on the island of Giske, but then the pandemic forced the musicians to exchange further ideas over the Internet, until the album was sewn together and mixed by Molvær and Jon Marius Aareskjold at Kysten Studio in Tromsø. The musicians were given full artistic freedom, so the album is very much about trusting other people, and giving room to let people shine.

The result is breathtaking. From the poetic, tender "Median" via the dramatic "A Sudden Rash", to the three powerful pieces taken from "Frameworks", Molvær's commissioned work for the 2021 Kongsberg Jazz Festival, the album showcases the trumpeter's distinct musical language - a language that is appreciated by listeners all over the world.

Although large portions of the album were composed and recorded during lockdown, Stitches sounds seamless and organic, proving that collaboration and artistic vision can overcome both isolation and distance. And despite the album's darker moments, with references to disorder and disease, Stitches comes across as a cathartic experience. After listening to the closing track, a beautiful version of Radiohead's "True Love Waits". That title seems prophetic: after turbulent times, the wounds will heal.