Fire!
The Hands

Fire! are now a well-established reality in the world of avant-jazz and fusion music. The trio, composed of Mats Gustafsson (born in 1964), one of the most varied and interesting musicians around, Johan Berthling on electric bass and double bass, and drummer and percussionist Andreas Werliin, released their sixth album last January on the Norwegian label Rune Grammofon. The record is titled "The Hands" and was presented by Rune Grammofon as an album that defies any genre classification.

From this perspective, they strongly advocate a point of view that I feel I can share: Fire!'s free-jazz is not difficult music. This is not so much due to the structure of the tracks themselves (which is fairly straightforward) but because I wouldn’t consider the songs on this album as something that doesn't have an immediate impact and effect on the listener, given the power of the trio's sound and the acid, yet at the same time hypnotic, suggestions evoked by the combination and the great harmony of the power of the rhythm section with the unmistakable sound of Gustafsson's saxophone. It's certainly curious, but perhaps also a relatable comparison - the seemingly daring link to Cream or The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

It must be said, on the other hand, that Fire! is not only Mats Gustafsson, as the rhythm section composed of Berthling and Werliin is frankly spectacular and at certain times takes a decidedly central role ("Washing Your Hands In Filth") or with repeated patterns, they define the structures of the track, giving it a decidedly unconventional rock cut ("The Hands," "When Her Lips Collapsed") or produce vibrating sound waves in "Touches Me with the Tips of Wonder." "The Hands" as a whole is a record whose sound, far from any standard definition of jazz sound, can be compared to avant-garde musicians starting with Colin Stetson and his Ex Eye project and the various experiences gained over the years by Jim O'Rourke (who, after all, has actively collaborated with the trio in the past). Not to mention Zu. Although the sound of Fire! is less heavy and obsessive and at the same time more fluid, elusive, and probably much more acidic. Probably also disarming for the apparent ease in execution by a trio as harmonious as few others around and who here perhaps disengage in a work maybe less abstract than usual, but anyway (who knows, perhaps precisely because of this) incredibly convincing.