The Lava Quartet is a pan-European, free-improvising, acoustic chamber ensemble featuring German, Berlin-based vocal artist Almut Kühne and drummer Wieland Möller, Portuguese, Rotterdam-based prolific double bass player Gonçalo Almeida (who plays with Möller in the Atos trio), and Catalan, Salzburg-based pianist Jordina Millà (known for her collaborations with her mentor, pianist Agustí Fernández, and master double bass player Barry Guy). Ethereal Chant is Lava Quartet’s debut album, and it was recorded live during a short tour of the ensemble at Dragon Social Club in Poznań, Poland, and two days later at Klanghaus in Klein Jasedow, Germany, in June 2023.

This ensemble enjoys four singular, highly creative, and intrepid improvisers, all feeding the synergistic, boundaries-pushing dynamics. Kühne’s wordless stream of vocalizations introduce a dream-like, sensual atmosphere; Millà’s playing with the piano strings adds a layer of delicate, resonant storms; Almedia’s extended bowing and percussive techniques intensify the dark, deep-toned basis, and Möller’s subtle, percussive touches color the unconventional, spontaneous commotion with mystery.

The four collective improvisations suggest unpredictable, enigmatic rituals, swinging between touching and intimate vulnerability and cathartic, liberating ecstasy, and are full of suggestive sonic images and inventive sounds. These expressive pieces often offer resonant collisions of spells, incantations, strings, skins, and gongs on the verge of utter chaos, but, eventually, all have the rare transformative, uplifting power of completely free, spontaneous musical expressions. The final piece, «Fragrantia Obscura», best captures Lava Quartet’s elusive, Synesthesia-like magic.

This is an ensemble that must be experienced live, and I do hope to listen to more of its unique, inspired ethereal chants.

Eyal Hareuveni

Almut Kühne (voice), Jordina Millà (piano), Gonçalo Almeida (double bass), Wieland Möller (drums, percussion, gongs)