Defeat

The seventh Fire! album offers some significant departures from their previous sound. While Johan Berthling’s minimal, trancelike bass lines and Andreas Werliin’s steady drumming are still present, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is joined up front by two guest horn players, Goran Kajfes on quarter-tone trumpet and Mats Äleklint on trombone and sousaphone. Their intertwining lines, with Äleklint creating an extra bass line on sousaphone, make this Fire!’s jazziest release to date, verging on New Orleans traditional sounds at times, though Gustafsson continues to chew his reed in a post-Peter Brötzmann style that’s part R&B, part free jazz, and part raw noise. But then, a real surprise: he shifts to flute, playing quite beautiful, folk-jazz lines that are interrupted by bursts of yelping through the instrument.