Oscillations is already the fourth album of the Swedish free jazz quartet Sol Sol in a period of only six years. The album features five compositions by guitarist David Stackenäs, two more by sax player Elin Forkelid, along with three collective free improvised interludes that open, divide, and end and album, with double bass player Mauritz Agnas and drummer Nils Agnas (who replaced Anna Lund). The album was recorded at Atlantis Metronome in Stockholm in January 2025 and is released on Forkelid’s label, Sail Cabin Records.
The music of Oscillations reflects the recent change in its lineup and is more spiritual and articulated in an organic manner. It often shifts toward greater freedom, including free improvisations, and toward exploration, marking the mature phase of this fine quartet. The meticulous, mosaic-like arrangements bring out subtle nuances in the melodic interplay and the harmonic movement. Sol Sol sounds like a band that has established its assured, balanced dynamics and thoughtful, conversational interplay, which makes its sound bigger than its parts.
The seminal legacy of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders still informs the soulful compositions of Forkelid and Stackenäs (check Forekelid’s «Indian summer». Forkelid leads another quintet with Stackenäs devoted to interpreting Coltrane’s tunes that released Plays for Trane, Sail Cabin, 2020) as weel as the free improvised interludes, but the atmosphere here is more reserved and less ecstatic, with a touch of Nordic melancholia. Förkelid draws inspiration also from literary sources, and her gentle «Archimboldo» was titled after the main fictional character in the Roberto Bolaño novel 2666. Stackenäs’ compositions also evoke the sensual refinement of Brazilian music, particularly Milton Nascimento (check the touching ballad «Elvira Segura»), and his guitar playing often references the soulful grooves of John Scofield (check «Open Letter To Lord Badminton», and «Kura Borgerlig Skymning»). The rhythm section of the Agnas cousins propels Sol Sol’s dynamics with labyrinthine rhythmic patterns.
Sol Sol oscillates with this album into higher, brighter territories, pushing its own boundaries.
Eyal Hareuveni
Elin Forkelid (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone), David Stackenäs (guitar), Mauritz Agnas (double bass), Nils Agnas (drums)
