Strange Hands, by the Norwegian guitarist and composer Eivind Aarset, and the follow-up to his acclaimed best-selling Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey finds his long-running quartet in lean, restless form. Joined by violinist Sara Ovinge, bansuri player Mira Thiruchelvam, and producer-engineer Bjarne Stensli, Aarset, Audun Erlien, Wetle Holte, and Erland Dahlen refine their shared language into something both more direct and more unpredictable. The music feels closer to the bone: fewer adornments, sharper impact, yet still suffused with the cinematic play of light and shadow that defines Aarset's work.
