Rasmus Kjær: Underlake

Although he is based in Copenhagen, pianist/keyboardist Rasmus Kjær's travel to Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 2023 inspired Underlake. The set is a series of pieces united in their evocation of water in its various manifestations. For a restless musician whose many projects include Orgelimprovisationer (Lydhør, 2015), a solo organ recording, and Turist (Wetwear, 2019), a synth-based mélange of world music styles, Underlake represents a return to form, as his austere piano merges with the subtle hues provided by his colleagues, saxophonist/clarinetist Nicolas Masson and drummer Noé Franklé. The result is six pensive meditations that achieve their power through their elliptical, sometimes mysterious expressions.

The opening track, "Almost Weightless," establishes the restrained temperament of the album quite effectively, with Masson's agonizingly slow, breathy notes floating atop Kjær's spartan piano, as Franklé's wispy brushes add subtle texture to the music. It is a brave way to start the record, with no overt attempt to grab the listener's attention. Rather, the emphasis is on sketching a world of sound that issues a hesitant invitation—one that requires patience and sustained focus to accept.

The other five pieces stay well within the contemplative parameters outlined in the opener, albeit with some variations which spark interest. "Slow Swell" allows Masson's tenor saxophone a more assertive dimension, with both Kjær and Franklé helping to channel the piece's gradual ebb and flow. At the same time, "Ondine in Silhouette" offers a poignant, lissome melody that highlights the trio's lyrical aspect. "Unidentified Submerged Object" carries the hint of menace one would expect, and this time it is Masson's clarinet which plumbs the mysteries of the deep with oblique single-note ponderings. And "Adrift," the album's collectively improvised track, continues this spirit of exploration and wonder, with all three musicians attuned to each other's gentle ruminations as they let the current take them where it will.

This album may not get one's pulse pounding, to be sure—but its delicate charms exert a powerful pull nonetheless, and Kjær and colleagues have crafted a capacious and absorbing body of music on Underlake.