The Norwegian, Oslo-based experimental guitar duo kÖök – Stian Larsen and Jørn Erik Ahlsen – is known for its sonic landscape, which navigates seamlessly between electronic ambient and experimental jazz, drawing inspiration from both Derek Bailey and Brian Eno. kÖök takes a radical turn in its seventh album, Understrøm (Undercurrent), with vocalist and poet Sarah Camille (who hosted Ahlsen in her solo albums) and folk musician, Harding fiddler and harpist (and dancer) Tuva Færden (who has played in Camille’s last solo album). The album was recorded at Børsen Kulturhus in Tangen in January 2025.
Understrøm expands kÖök’s left-of-center, ambient musical universe into an exploratory, earthy, and often sensual Norwegian folk music, modern ballads, spoken word, and poetry. but with enough room for free-improvised and experimental, extended vocal, fretting, and percussive techniques, including preparations of playing kÖök’s ecoustic and electric guitars and Færden’s lyre, which takes all four musicians outside their comfort zones. The music was developed and experimented with over a few days in the studio, and sounds natural and organic, and is even touched by familiar Nordic melancholia. The genre-defying songs – all sung in Norwegian and French – offer a map of an inner landscape, dwell on the transitions between serenity and chaos, between silence and noise, and suggest hope for a better future.
The beautiful cover artwork, the tapestry called Jevndøgn (Equinox) – a hand-woven digital damask composed of materials such as silk, wool, cotton, lady’s mantle from Bergen, roof reeds from Tvedestrand, and Nesodden, toninia lichen from an islet outside Tvedestrand, dye reed from the Isle of Wight, and walnut from Vienna – by textile artist Henriette Mauritz Nordbeck, perfectly complements the Understrøm vision. It suggests the patient interweaving of places, ecosystems, and traditions as a metaphor for the unpredictable interaction between culture and nature, man and environment, or as a reflection of the music of Understrøm and its surprising resonant undercurrents.
This beautiful album reflects our restless times of climate change, political instability, and social tension, offering a sonic haven for contemplation. In its modest, arresting manner, it invites us to listen to what is beneath the surface, perhaps motivating us to act and care for our planet and its beings.
Eyal Hareuveni
Stian Larsen (guitar), Jørn Erik Ahlsen (guitar), Sarah Camille (vocals), Tuva Færden (Hardanger fiddle, lyre, voice)
