Label: ILK Music, 2025
Personnel - Mark Solborg: guitar, electronics; Susana Santos Silva: trumpet; Simon Toldam: piano, keys; Ingar Zach: percussion, vibrating membranes.
Danish-Argentine guitarist and composer Mark Solborg offers nine aesthetically compelling avant-garde chamber pieces that leave a bold imprint due to their originality. While the written sections are well-considered, the improvisation unfolds confidently from the fabric of each composition, insidiously performed by his Tungemal quartet, featuring Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, Danish pianist Simon Toldam, and Norwegian percussionist Ingar Zach.
Emitting melancholic and dark sounds, “Spoke” feels like a meditation on loss and grief. It’s layered with dismal piano chords, lachrymose trumpet lines sculpted with emotional fragility and enchanting effects, and understated guitar coloring. “Southern Swag” thrives on an offbeat prepared piano pulse which, accompanied by precise percussion, forms the bed over which Solborg and Silva deliver reassuring melodies in parallel. The guitar solo is alluring, marked by unanticipated note choices.
The group keeps listeners hooked with “The Wires”, in which Solborg’s meditative acoustic guitar stands out against the moody background. There’s a simultaneous embrace of anguish and tranquility here, yet “Cantamos” brings more optimistic tones without ever feeling cathartic. Its 4/4 arpeggiated riff is supported by sizzling percussion and extra bass notes that provide a cushioning foundation. “Planes” returns to a spatial, rubato desolation that immerses the listener in an imperturbable state of languidness.
“Janus - Og Sidste Ord”, the longest track on the record at nearly 11 minutes, opens with metallic percussion, introspective guitar fingerpicking, and synth consistency, passing through a buzz-soaked stillness suddenly populated with clear piano raindrops. It all ends in atmospheric haze with Zach’s vibrating membranes and subtle key changes. The album winds up with “Pitches & Peace”, a softly mantric act co-composed by Solborg, Toldam, and Silva. The latter, employing extended techniques and pixelating her own ideas with varying degrees of timbre and pitch, steps into the foreground.
Tungemal, which means idiom or tongue, is deeply connected to communication and diversity. For all its risk-taking approach and keen sense of atmospherics, Solborg’s neatly-organized yet intriguing project deserves attention.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Southern Swag ► 03 - The Wires ► 04 - Cantamos