Off Stillness

There’s a rare acoustic alchemy at play in Time Is A Blind Guide. Personnel changes have guided and co-shaped the musical character of Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen’s ensemble and on the group’s third recording we once again experience a slight shift in the line-up, with Leo Svensson Sander replacing Lucy Railton on cello. The new voice blends seamlessly into the quietly breathing ensemble sound, with a sparse but most precise Ayumi Tanaka navigating her way empathetically across the keyboard, responsive to Strønen’s percussive layers, Ole Morten Vågan’s bending double bass work and Håkon Aase’s lyrical violin accounts. At times the group’s three string instruments make up a firm trio-unit that enters into thoughtful dialogue with piano and percussion, but for the most part, the group’s pulse works as a whole, with each instrument dynamically gliding in and out of the picture, captured in well-known acoustics of Rainbow Studio. The album, recorded at Rainbow Studio, Oslo in 2021, and mixed in Munich in 2024, was produced by Manfred Eicher.