Henrik Jonsson’ star-crossed piano vignettes and microtonal slurring, though not without their moments of prismatic iridescence, are often bereft of mesmeric purity and, on no seldom occasion, become bogged down in the welter of styles that pull them in every which way. Jonsson’ penchant for short compositions that jut out in numerous directions remains here, as he leapfrogs from the plangent piano chords and near silent low-end vibration of ‘En Hyllning Till Cyckeln’, to the tectonic heft of the textural paraphernalia that marks ‘Copyright The Universe’, and ‘Pappa! Min Karlek Ar Gravid’ with its icy drones and wheezily howling organ constellated by gentle chimes.
More so than on any previous effort, though, Jonsson’ inclination towards strange, eerie, occasionally carnivalesque characters is rich enough so that it floats over and through all of the myriad forms on display. Furthermore, the album presents a well-rounded enough repertoire of acrobatics to fill out the warmly frazzled episodic structure in which it operates. As a structure, it’s not one concerned with signifying, with becoming a meaningful whole or even being retained in memory. In fact, it achieves none of these – rather, its varied textures, battered skewed beats and bold harmonies cohere so perfectly with their own idea, and mingle so effortlessly amongst one another, that a certain pantomime quality predominates. Toeing the line laid out by the shoddy art dealer whose ‘come one, come all’ gambit graces one of Jonsson’ tracks, New Exclusive Olympic Heights effectively discloses the performative side in all of this gesturing.
Max Schaefer
