Trichotomy - Known-Unknown

The Guardian 80

(Challenge)

The much-admired Australian piano trio Trichotomy (a band with Esbjörn Svensson Trio associations but independent compositional interests and a distinctive group feel) are launching their fifth album – an advance into more electronic territory without sacrificing their rugged, hooky themes and savvy pacing and drama. The trio’s punchy grooving – under pianist Sean Foran’s fluent lines and powerful chordwork, along with bassist Samuel Vincent’s light pizzicato touch – is plainly in sharp fettle right from the playfully swerving opener, Five. There are glistening episodes of piano and bass dialogue in the trancelike intro to the eventually spookily abstract Cells and exclamatory off-kilter rhythms, such as in the dreamy Junk. Svensson would have been proud of the lyrical simplicity and gentle piano-bass exposition of drummer John Parker’s misty ballad It’s Strange Coming Back. Electronics pieces like the looping Reverie of Lack and the spacey Hemmingways reflect Trichotomy’s curiosity and the musicality that keeps their conversation fresh but undistracted.