This album is extreme in its way. It's certainly Sidsel's most out-there recording. This shift was already hinted at on previous recordings - 'Six Minutes Or So' on Duplex Ride, the closing part of 'Distances' on Undertow, the 'mad' bit of Survival Techniques and Ido from the last album. Here she goes full tilt for it. She sings in what appears to be her own spontaneous language, with bits of English cropping up here and there, her voice coming up with all sorts of noises along the way. This is music that feels far ahead of everything else; it feels like music from another planet, even. She is backed only by electronic sounds, which is fitting, since this is the future. All the softer tones of her previous music are absent here. So any Sidsel fan buying this album should be warned that this is very challenging, experimental music, to be appreciated by only a small audience. Those who perceive her as the most important musical artist on the international scene (as I do), will only find their beliefs confirmed by this daring work. Those who laughed and continue to laugh at what Yoko Ono did in the late sixties/early seventies, would no doubt have a good chuckle over this particular collection of music. One person's genius is another person's joke. There's little point describing individual pieces, partly because they're indescribable, partly because they all contribute to the overall strangeness. Certainly no one will have another album that resembles this one in their collection, however esoteric their taste. People who are willing to embrace the new, however odd it is, should own this album. Those who still cling to electric guitars and singalong choruses, should avoid this album and remain in their retro world. The same goes for jazz fans who need to hear yet another old standard ballad rendered at the piano - you will hate this. The future is here, and it belongs to Sidsel and the rest of the Norwegian jazz scene.
