Short Reviews [Thumbscrew - 2021 - "Never Is Enough"]

A few years back I was devastated when Cuneiform Records decided it was time to leave the music business after years of releasing uncompromising and challenging albums, as well as incredibly important ones (such as the collection of very early Kansas material which directly to the reformation of much of the original line-up as Proto Kaw). I was luxuriating in the incredible boxed set of Art Zoyd’s ’44 1/2’ (an album I still play a great deal) when I heard the news, and was massively upset, but eventually they made a return and in many ways it is as if they have never been away. Their remit is still to release music which is challenging and uncompromising, and that is exactly what we have here with the sixth album by Thumbscrew, the trio comprising Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Mary Halvorson (guitar), and Michael Formanek (double bass and electric bass). Late in the summer of 2019, the immediate plan was for the trio to rehearse and record a disparate program of Anthony Braxton compositions (which was recorded and released as their fifth album, ‘The Anthony Braxton Project’), but at the same time each band member also brought in some original compositions which they then spent time refining and recording. The result is this album, featuring three compositions from each member, which was recorded in just four days. There is a complex arrangement between the three musicians, who all understand that space is the fourth member of the band, and even though the strands are interweaving (and sometimes going off at tangents) there is no need for everyone to be busy at the same time, or even a need for everyone to be playing together. Each of them are masters of avant-garde technique who are at one with their instrument and each other, and here they paint pictures in the air, going where they know is the right place to be. This is not music to be played in the background or when other things are taking place, but rather this album needs to be played on headphones late at night when the listener can spend the time to really get inside the heads of the musicians and see and feel what they are experiencing. This album is not for everyone, and like many of Cuneiform’s albums will be appreciated by a select few, but those of us who “get it” will have their lives enhanced by the experience.