The Swedish-Danish duo of drummers Andreas Pettersson and Michala Østergaard-Nielsen suggest an intimate series of drums talks, alone and with visiting friends, as the title of their debut album suggests, Folk på besök. The album was recorded at Atlantis Metronome in Stockholm in 2021.

The idea of Folk på besök was to let the twin drummers meet other twin duos, so the interactive aesthetics of Pettersson and Østergaard-Nielsen will be challenged and their sonic palette would be further explored. The album is divided into drums duets of Pettersson and Østergaard-Nielsen and augmented duets. The first duet piece of Pettersson and Østergaard-Nielsen, «#1 (!ses)», searches for delicate timbral qualities of the drums’ skins and the metallic cymbals and evokes a mysterious and dramatic soundscape. The second duet «#3 (whiplash)» is more intense and explores polyrhythmic layers. Their last duet «#5» is enigmatic and suggestive and highlights the unique vocabulary they have established together

The double duos with pianists Isabell Gustafsson-Ny and Lisa Ullén, simply titled «Duo X2 – Med Isabell och Lisa», channels the reserved dramatic interplay into an engaging story. The double duos with sax players Fredrik Ljungkvist and David Bennet focus on investigating extended breathing and percussive techniques and the double duo with double bass players Johan Berthling and Vilhelm Bromander dives deep into dark and woody deep tones and creates a tense and unsettling dialog. The last piece «Densitet(er)» is a free improvisation that brings together all six visitors together to the most complex piece. It is a chamber, free improvisation in its spirit where the drums of Pettersson and Østergaard-Nielsen color it with intriguing colors and anchor its chaotic flights towards a clear course.

Eyal Hareuveni

Andreas Pettersson (dr), Michala Østergaard-Nielsen (dr), Lisa Ullén (p), Isabell Gustafsson-Ny (p), Fredrik Ljungkvist (s), David Bennet (s), Johan Berthling (b), Vilhelm Bromander (b)