It’s only been a year since guitarist Oren Ambarchi, bassist Johan Berthling, and percussionist Andreas Werliin released Ghosted II, their second album as a trio. If the making of that extraordinary record was as intense as the experience of listening to it, then you could have forgiven them for taking a longer break. But, to everyone’s benefit, they’re right back in the saddle with the third installment of Ghosted, and it’s a pleasure to report that it’s every bit as impressive as the other two.
There has, inevitably, been some evolution. Now more than ever they feel less like three distinct musicians and more like that nebulous and magical entity we call a band. The playing is looser and more live (and more alive) than ever before, which might be a result of more time spent together, both gigging and in the studio. But becoming more band-like hasn’t dented their urge for sonic exploration. If anything, Ghosted III is even spicier than its predecessors in this respect. And where Ghosted I and II freewheeled across a matrix whose corners were marked by krautrock, ambient, jazz and freely improvised modernism, III adds even more dimensions.
In keeping with previous policy, the tracks are numbered rather than titled, though this time there are six rather than four, and the numbers are in Farsi rather than Swedish or English. Yek opens with a light, minimalist groove that grows in complexity and funkiness. The melody seems to bleed into the percussion, and there are hints of North African and Arabian music about the opening segment. It soon becomes more expansive, full of splashing percussion and sinuous guitar. The two distinct segments repeat in turn, interlocking seamlessly, before the clipped guitar and springy bass usher in a taut crescendo. In the final minute or so the melody breaks down and we are left with a tinkling waterfall of notes.
Do is more freeform in structure, the builds are softer and more subtle, and the use of studio effects more noticeable. Melody is largely eschewed in favour of woozy abstraction, the musical equivalent of a painter moving from impressionistic to expressionistic techniques. Guitar lines are bent and bowed and the drums plot an unsteady but exploratory course. The result is a strangely calming, loose-limbed piece. The brief Seh features a wandering bassline and is blanketed by softly droning ambience that blossoms and then dies away. Such moments – like blooming flowers or rising suns – are scattered through the album, a sign of the trio’s intentions as well as their expert control of mood.
Chahar has an itchier, spikier feel to it. Berthling’s bass feels on the verge of snapping like an overstretched rubber band, but always springs back into place, while the drums are as dry and crackly as a woodland floor after a forest fire, and the guitar skitters in multiple directions at once. On Panj, the bass lopes along with a steady determination and the guitars creak and wail. Repetition, variation and free expression are held in continuous balance, a tension that gives the music a tantalising sense of expectation. On the final track, Shesh, that expectation is fulfilled: the dynamics and the tone of Ambarchi’s guitar take on a post-rock feel, growing and gradually mutating through minimalistic shifts into an outro that flows exaltedly over emphatic percussive crashes.
Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin are unique in the world of improvised music. They manage to push the boundaries of experimentation – constantly, and in all different directions – while remaining accessible and eminently listenable. Their trajectory is unpredictable but always interesting. If Ghosted I arrested us with the shock of the new and Ghosted II carved out something like a distinctive niche for the trio, Ghosted III is the sound of experimentation born from the confidence and fellow feeling. It’s the sound of a band who know each other well enough that they can begin to concentrate on the things they don’t yet know, the unexplored musical directions that open up in front of them when they play together. And long may that continue.
Ghosted III (August 29th, 2025) Drag City
Ghosted Tour Dates 2025
Sept. 2nd – Cologne, DE @ Cologne Jazzweek @ Jaki
Sept. 5th – Kristiansand, NO @ Punkt Festival
Sept. 14th – Warsaw, PL @ Pardon To Tu
Sept. 16th – London, UK @ ICA – Institute of Contemporary Arts
Nov. 22nd – Wroclaw, PL @ Jazztopad Festival
Nov. 27th – Oslo, NO @ Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene