God Complex

Gentle Party:  Elisa Thorn, harp; Meredith Bates, viola; and Jessicka, vocals. Self-released, 2022.

For its sophomore album, the self-proclaimed “avant chamber pop ensemble” Gentle Party (now a trio with Elisa Thorn, harp; Meredith Bates, viola, and Jessicka, vocals) surpasses its already stratospheric standards of artistry through haunting melancholy and a sublime tonal world. Favorites include the addictive minimalism of “2 Little,” where harp and viola create a sensuous bed of layered sound that explodes into excited pulsations and layered vocals. “Cosmic Sea” floats in a mysterious haze under a strong yet fragile voice. Deeply powerful is “Unsafe” (with its accompanying video) a response to the #metoo era where women still have to fear places men take for granted. The title track refers to a misogynistic member of their Vancouver community. “So many times,” they explain, “people’s ‘apologies’ for their bad behavior are simply spineless virtue signaling, without integrity, values, or behavior change to back it up.” Like everything with Gentle Party, things are gentle up to the point we are completely disarmed, in the most beautiful way imaginable. 

Great Plains

Stina Hellberg Agback, harp, and Jonas Isaksson Quartet. Kokoro no Ko, 2021.

Swedish jazz harpist Stina Hellberg Agback along with her longtime partner, the soulful guitarist Jonas Isaksson, released a superb second quartet album, “Great Plains,” a dreamscape of original music depicting America’s wide-open spaces. Narrative in nature, the music begins with an improvisatory exaltation of the morning in Dew, Agback’s wistful, heart-on-sleeve approach buoyed by the agile percussion of Daniel Olsson. 

Familiar with plains themselves living in the fertile flatlands of Uppsala in Sweden, the rep is lyrical, even nostalgic, as in “Big Sky Country,” where bassist Rasmus Diamant is encouraged to take an extra long and tender solo. Favorites include “Birds,” where Agback’s twittery riffs are especially pungent; “The Swift Fox,” an R&B tune with just the right sassy backbeat; and “Bison Rumble,” which introduces the refreshing freedom of saxophonist Örjan Hultén to the mix, gelling the ensemble and pushing it into new improvisatory territory.