Terrible Animals
Terrible Animals gives Lage Lund's guitar an unsettled setting. He uses effects and unusual layers of sound without letting the melodies disappear. Pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Tyshawn Sorey can make the music move forcefully or leave it open. Much of the tension lies between those possibilities.
Hard Eights establishes the approach through a recognisable melodic line and a less familiar background. Fortner's piano follows its own rhythmic route, while the guitar can move from clear to stranger colours. The musicians stay connected without making the same movements. That gives the track more character than a straightforward series of solos.
Ray Ray has a clearer groove. Its theme grows with the performance, and Sorey's drums build the intensity. Piano and guitar receive enough room to develop their ideas. The long piece remains convincing because the interplay has an obvious direction.
Octoberry chooses a different sound. Short guitar figures leave room for exchanges between bass and piano. The title track is harsher and freer, with tumbling drums and distorted guitar. Haitian Ballad offers a quieter, more melodic side in contrast. Lund can change his approach without losing his own voice.
The running time does not automatically make that variety easy to follow. Across more than an hour, some abstract passages can allow the attention to wander. A shorter selection might have given its strongest ideas greater emphasis. Even so, Terrible Animals contains plenty of intriguing music. These compositions give the players enough support to take risks. Lund's guitar holds a position between clear melodies and adventurous sounds, with a group that can carry that tension convincingly.
