Arrival Of The New Elders

After a solid run of five studio albums and 2019´s two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, Elephant9 had taken their mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect Arrival Of The New Elders comes as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, don´t let the ironic title mislead you, they are as wild as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented with the longest track clocking in around the seven minute mark (rather short, by their standards). Having built a solid live reputation even before their brilliant 2008 debut Dodovoodoo, the trio boasts what is probably the strongest rhythm section in Norway, complemented with keyboard magician extraordinaire, the one and only Ståle Storløkken. And boy, does he excel himself on this album, notably with more focus on the Rhodes than before. That said, this is nothing if not another strong group effort from what has been a very tight unit straight from the outset. Seven brand new compositions from Storløkken and one from Hængsle make way for what we consider to be their finest and most cohesive album to date.