|
PREORDER
Ships When IN STOCK.
|
ARTIST
TITLE
Dodehavet
FORMAT
LP
LABEL
CATALOG #
BTR 135LP
BTR 135LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
6/5/2026
|
Kronstad 23 return with Dødehavet, the Norwegian quartet's third album and first release on Batov Records. Continuing their instinctive, analogue-led approach, the record sits between cinematic jazz and psychedelic rock, threaded with Scandinavian folk and wider global influences. Recorded live to tape with minimal preparation and no modern studio intervention, Dødehavet captures a band working on feel, interaction and momentum rather than polish or precision. Despite living at opposite ends of Norway, old friends Øyvind Arnodd Vie Berg (keys), Alexander Tøsdal Tveit (guitar, sitar), Eirik Rømcke (bass) and Hans Christian Dalgaard (drums, percussion) conceived the album almost casually, sketching the idea of a reunion over a drink before committing quickly to writing and recording. Sessions took place at Berg's home studio in Bergen, with the quartet working fast, relying on intuition and shared musical language rather than extensive rehearsal or postproduction. On Dødehavet, Kronstad 23 lean more decisively towards groove and collective propulsion, expanding their palette without sacrificing the immediacy that defines their sound. While still largely recorded in single takes, the album is given added heat by contributions from saxophonists Håvar Skaugen and Inge Weatherhead Breistein. Recorded with all four core musicians playing together in the same room, Dødehavet avoids sterile production in favor of a raw, direct sound. Most pieces were captured in one or two takes using a 50-year-old mixing console and tape recorder, deliberately resisting contemporary studio techniques to preserve a timeless, lived-in character. Influences surface organically rather than through rigid composition. Kronstad 23 operate with a deliberately low-pressure dynamic. The quartet meets only a handful of times each year and rarely rehearses in a conventional sense, instead trusting shared instincts and keeping structures loose. The project's name nods to Afrobeat-era band naming conventions, with "23" marking the year the project came into focus and Kronstad referencing the Bergen neighborhood where the group's first sessions took place. While Afrobeat is only one strand in their sound, the name reflects openness rather than fixed identity. At its core, Dødehavet is about process rather than statement -- music shaped by listening, restraint and collective momentum. Jazz, soul, folk, Afrobeat, rock and raga merge into a single, unforced language, captured in real time and left largely untouched. FFO: Gábor Szabó, Amancio D'Silva, Mulatu Astatke, Soft Machine, Surprise Chef, Menahan Street Band, Ikebe Shakedown, El Michels Affair, The Sorcerers, Sababa 5, Ill Considered, Tommy Guerrero, Glass Beams.
|
|
|