Olli Hirvonen - Kielo (2022)

One of Finland’s most rising musical exports is the guitarist/composer Olli Hirvonen, who has been based in New York since 2011. For his new recording, Kielo, he leads a close-knit trio with bassist Marty Kenny and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell, delivering eight tunes (seven originals and one cover) that integrate his Finnish musical roots and Americana. The follow up to the excellent Displace (Ropeadope, 2019) sounds simpler in conception but still rocks out with an understated elegance that goes beyond stereotyped jazz contexts.

The title cut is shaped with delicate streams whose charisma and poise takes us to the emotional, ambient-like psychedelia of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. “Outline” was inspired by novelist Rachel Cusk’s trilogy of the same name, and its provocative base, in which Hirvonen’s axe goes together with Kenney’s bass presence in optimum ways, doesn’t outshine the melody.

Less jumpy than the previously mentioned number is “Current”, an enigmatic, slightly somber and brush-driven piece that holds tight to a 3/4 tempo but has the amplitude to ebb and flow; and also “Lento”, which, inspired by the indie folk-pop singer/songwriter Cassandra Jenkins, provides one of the album’s starkest moments. As at early, the mood is taken to further lows, but Ellmann-Bell swaps the initial balminess for a more solid rhythm solidly locked in with the bass. Hirvonen’s solo finds support in the reliable foundational builders.

With “Erode”, the trio embraces an indie rock style that shows no complexes. Although the inspiration came from the Brian Blade Fellowship, this is a ballad song crafted with noise-filled passages that could be taken from Mogwai or Sonic Youth. Hirvonen’s distortion-swathed guitar weaves through the tune with grit.

The set comes to a close with a rendition of “Vegas”, authored by the Brooklyn band Big Thief. It reads like a modern folk song propelled with an invigorating backbeat. Kielo will make explorers of pop/rock instrumentals happier than jazz diggers.