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Space: Embrace the Space

By John Sharpe
January 11, 2025
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The second album from the Swedish collective Space, comprising pianist

Lisa Ullen

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Lisa Ullen, bassist

Elsa Bergman

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Elsa Bergman and drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Lund, finds further intrigue and sustenance in the soil that nurtured its eponymous 2022 debut. The three principals share a vision of the piano trio that accentuates the percussive aspects of the format. They have honed that synergy over several years, having first united as the engine room of saxophonist

Anna Hogberg

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Hogberg's celebrated Attack, which can be heard on another eponymous debut (Omlott, 2016) and the follow up Lena (Omlott, 2020).

Ull��n provides the key. She operates in that sphere where

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor is the patron saint and fellow travellers include the likes of

Kris Davis

piano
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Kris Davis,

Satoko Fujii

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Satoko Fujii and

Sylvie Courvoisier

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Sylvie Courvoisier. However, she takes further than many the credo that the piano contains 88 tuned drums, as she hammers out series of rapid-fire minimalist patterns and thunderous ringing motifs. These she gifts further distinctiveness by intermittent preparations to her instrument, resulting in an attractive clanking tonality. There is a lovely moment in the standout "Bleach," when a string of notes in the treble register, clacking like castanets, draws an apt rejoinder of repeated woody pitches from Lund's kit.

As well as empathetic but understated commentary, drummer and bassist combine in a loose mesh, which supports but does not impose, across the eight spontaneous inventions. Lund's clattery drums and machine gun rat-a-tat impart a glitchy stutter to Ull��n's forceful chording in the opening "Look," and a lurching momentum elsewhere, abetted by Bergman's resonant pizzicato foundation. Only on the closing "Blood & Money" does the bassist pick up her bow, careening freely amid the surrounding chatter and rattle.

If there is one weakness to the set, it is that they do not really do endings. Many of the cuts seem to peter out once the initial objective has been achieved. That proviso aside, Embrace The Space is a thrilling demonstration of a powerful communal intent.

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Track Listing

Look; The Immeasurable; All at once; Cyklop; Bleach; Rage; Composure; Blood & Money.

Personnel

Lisa Ullen

piano

Elsa Bergman

bass, acoustic

Anna Lund

drums

Album information

Title: Embrace the Space | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records

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