The Oslo-based improvisation collective Wendra Hill was founded in 2017 by Norwegian guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne and Swedish bassist-cellist Joel Ring, but now expanded as a trio with the addition of Bergen-based drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde. These three musicians explore highly personal sonic territories. Meyer Lysne deals with visualization of sound, working with theatre, installation, and self-made instruments; Ring aesthetics range from noise to western classical music; Hegg-Lunde is known from the bands Building Instrument, Erlend Apneseth Trio and Strings & Timpani, and has a background in both rock, pop, jazz, and improvised music. And all expand their arsenal with samplers, synthesizer, turntable, electronic drums and field recordings.
Wendra Hill’s musicians were born in countryside towns – Meyer Lysne in Førde, Ring in Växjö, Sweden, and Hegg-Lunde in Lærdal. «Ungdomskilden» (the source of youth in Norwegian), the sophomore album of Wendra Hill, builds its sonic envelope on such rich, irreverent and eccentric experiences, maybe ones that can be listened to, imagined and shaped only in remote towns. And, indeed, Wendra Hill counts its sources of inspiration in such textures of locked vinyl-grooves, shimmering transposed bass notes, and eighties electric drum pads for its odd rhythmic structures.
«Ungdomskilden» was recorded at Brown Studio in Oslo in January 2019. Wendra Hill weaves–improvises-manipulates its assorted influences into a series of 13 short strange and cacophonic yet fascinating electroacoustic dreamscapes and song structures, proving that there is no end to its sonic imagination and only this collective could have created. These pieces suggest a new breed of ambient IDM on «Bergsjøstølen», mysterious ritual on «Puffpuff», the urban sounds in «Hammer’n in Tokyo» and «Ungdomskilden» adds an uncompromising industrial aroma. The Terry Riley-like minimalism of «Tøm lungene» takes Wendra Hill to more exotic territories. «Det vakre ved laminat» tells how Wendra Hill in love with DIY colorful lamination and «Slanger og nattergaler» reveals it got inspired to overcome their fear of snakes. The brief «Kveldens blomstring» plays with child-like toy-synth phrases and the last piece «Slidelien» sketches an enigmatic and atmospheric, cinematic texture.
Eyal Hareuveni
Joel Ring (b, eff, sampler, c), Jo David Meyer Lysne (g, pedal steel, synth, sampler, turntable), Øyvind Hegg-Lunde (dr, perc, el. dr)
