EDENA GARDENS

Edena Gardens is a Psychedelic Rock supergroup, drawing together artists who have made the Danish El Paraiso label renowned for finely crafted instrumental psychedelic rock, with sounds and production and composition which hearken back to the glory days of the late 60's and early 70's. The guitarist Nicklas Sorensen is from Papir, a group known for subtle sounds and hypnotic patterns. Jakob Skott, the drummer, comes from El Paraiso's flagship group, Causa Sui, a brilliant group who remake themselves every three albums or so. Martin Rude is a multi-talented Danish singer-songwriter who led a vocal psych-folk group on El Paraiso called Sun River. Here he contributes his talents on the bass and guitar.

If you are familiar with the other projects of these artists, the first thing you notice about Edena Gardens is that the music seems deliberately slower, intentionally drawing out melodies and rhythms to find the silence and space between the notes. It is rock music, but it brings some of the swing and spaciousness of spiritual jazz to bear on the compositions. The opener, "Aether," begins with ponderous minor key guitars, reminiscent of "The End" by the Doors. The music refuses to hurry, but instead dwells in a contemplative atmosphere. This is music where restraint and intentionality make every note count. You can hear the players listening to each other as the composition organically emerges. Though the tempo is even slower than a funeral march, it does not leave the listener frustrated or impatient, but rather, hushes the listener into an attentive trance, fascinated to see the delicate structures of melody break apart and reform like a kaleidoscope. The second piece, "Sliding Under," ascends to lighter atmospheres, and finds Martin Rude switching to guitar to interplay with Sorenson. The effect is akin to a half-time Allman Brothers Mountain Jam. Some delicate keys and slow-attack guitars produce a swirling sensation of movement.

"The Canopy" is a gentle ballad, surrounding Nicklas Sorenson's lyrical playing with some gentle backwards guitar and vibraphone sounds, as Jakob Skott demonstrates how to deftly coax time forward with his cymbals and toms. The fourth track, "Hidebound," takes a familiar 6/8 folk-rock rhythm and slows it down, with clean guitar chords delaying off into infinity and synthesizer swells washing across the sky of this landscape. All sounds are tastefully chosen, and the production lovingly caresses the ear of the listener with sounds that refuse to overpower, but instead invite closer attention to their subtlety.

"Now Here Nowhere" give us Edena Gardens' take on the blues, with psychedelic sound effects echoing across the space made between the bass and drum setting up their three-chord jam.

The closing track, "An T-Eilean Dubh," is perhaps the closest this album comes to playing mainstream rock music, with a tempo which pics up from the hypnotic pace of the preceding album, and allows the players to solo over a repeating chord sequence. Jakob Skott adds world music interest with some shakers in the background. Nicklas Sorenson cycles through a delicious palette of sounds as he states an ever intensifying case with his guitar.

This is truly music to open your mind, to contemplate, to relax and luxuriate in. The players evidently enjoyed the experience of making it so much that a second album is already on the way, before the first Edena Gardens album has even seen its anniversary. If it comes close to the profound achievement of this beautiful, breathtaking album, it may seem like a new genre of music is being born.