Despite its somewhat generic name, jazz trio the Setting have created something striking and quietly astounding on their self-titled debut album. The band, consisting of bassist and composer Eivind Opsvik, keyboard player Elias Stemeseder, and guitarist Will Graefe, have brought to fruition Opsvik‘s love of 1970s and 1980s synthesizer music, ECM solo guitar albums, and experimental art pop. But as the saying goes, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
While there are certainly touchstones of previous subgenres and legendary artists – ranging from Brian Eno to Joe Zawinul to Ryuichi Sakamoto – all over this beguiling record, the result is a sound that is unlike anything else most ears have heard. The overall experience is decidedly low-key, but with plenty of moments that are haunting, mysterious, and slightly avant-garde – all delivered with a disarming elegance.
The key is partly in the instrumentation. Stemeseder is credited with synthesizers, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and lute-harpsichord (a European, baroque-era keyboard instrument also known as a lautenwerk); Graefe is responsible for acoustic guitars, electronics, and a Leslie speaker; and Opsvik handles double bass and drum machine. The absence of an actual drummer in a jazz trio isn’t unheard of. Still, it does create interesting challenges for the arrangements, which the three assembled musicians are only too happy to turn into dazzling, unorthodox sonic combinations.
With ten tracks all composed by Opsvik – the Oslo-born musician seems to be the de facto leader of the band – the album begins with “Corner Song”, as the drum machine and double bass provide a loping rhythm section, while acoustic guitar figures meld with a variety of keyboard flourishes. The song moves at a deliberate pace, with gentle, almost naïve melodies burrowing into the listener’s ears.
There’s a languid elegance to tracks like the sparse “Time to Wake Up” and “By the Light of the Moon”, with Stemeseder’s spacey, sizzling synths providing a dazzling contrast to the majestic piano chords. Opsvik’s jazz-inflected bass notes – particularly on songs like “Sacromonte” and the dreamy “Union Plans” – provide a rich, subtle anchor. The aforementioned devotion to the ECM catalogue is certainly evident in much of this music: informed by jazz, spurred by experimentation and refined sophistication.
The Setting even squeeze in some deeply atmospheric, droning ambience, thanks to the chilling “Sivilisasjon i Rommet”, as well as a sort of jazz-meets-baroque soundscape in the closing track, “The Big Yard”, sounding not unlike jazz-era Frank Zappa at his most elegant.
The Setting’s music is uncommonly satisfying and tastefully strange. It sounds like plenty of things you may have already heard, but never in this particular combination. These three musicians have not only soaked up a sterling set of musical influences but have also found a way to put them together in a truly artful, enchanting package.