Review Summary: Nordic man assaults flute
Whether or not you’re likely to revel in
Defeat will depend entirely on whether you appreciate (or, perhaps more accurately, are able to tolerate) the sound of violently-blown wind instruments. You see, Mats Gustafsson doesn't really
play the flute, so much as he strives to force the very core of his being through its tiny, cylindrical body until an appropriately angry and
almost melodic assortment of notes make themselves known to the world. It's, erm,
bizarre ... but kinda fun(!), assuming you're into that kind of thing. On “A Random Belt. Rats You Out.” and “Alien (To My Feet)”, you can actually hear the man yelping in the background, squawking alongside his atonal flute-y tooting, such is the breathlessness and vigor of his playing. Things settle down
a little during the middle stretch of the record, even if Gustafsson isn't much kinder to his saxophone. The two part epic “Each Millimeter Of The Toad'' sees him weaponise his instrument’s weaving, winding warbling into macabre, mangled contortions, softened only by the soothing guest trumpet and trombone of Goran Kajfes and Mats Aleklint. Their slightly softer touch helps guide our protagonist back down from the ledge, his sax collapsing gratefully into relative bliss.
Fire!’s 2021 release is free jazz at its most surreal, though Johan Berthling and Andreas Werlin don’t seem to mind. The two remaining parts of the three-piece appear content to merily groove away on their respective instruments, seemingly oblivious to Gustafsson screaming bloody murder somewhere off-screen. Their supple rhythm work acts as the scaffolding that stabilises Gustafsson’s otherwise-unbridled chaos, their drum kicks and bass lines forming the strained foundation for the record’s ungainly compositions. Thanks to their hard work,
Defeat just about manages to retain an air of listenability. It’s challenging, certainly, yet also toe-tappingly accessible - one's head forced to bob enthusiastically despite the eerie, chameleonic tapestry that the band stitches together. Imparted with this rhythmic, trance-like structure, the formless tendencies of Fire! are recontextualised and elevated, such that the resultant performance is truly wonderful to behold. Then again, I’m still not sure I get what
Defeat really
is or
means, it remaining difficult to grasp despite its relative accessibility. What I do know, however, is this: somewhere in the world there exists a highly aggrieved piece of wood, violated at the remorseless hands of a Nordic madman. I’m pretty sure it’s looking to sue.
