‘SOS’ was ABBA’s finest track in my humble opinion but don’t expect any Bjorn and Benny stuff from Lennart Ginman whose domain lies in the cross matching of jazz and electronic music with a cinematic feel while relying on the mantra of the three Ms – movies, melancholy and minimalism.
The is the fourth single from a forthcoming album, ‘360’, which will be released on September 8th and of which he has previously said “has been created with no ulterior motives, compromise or regard to existing genres.”
The title ‘360’ is supposed to be representative of the holistic nature of the work, the music building a bridge between the repetitive tightness and rigour of the (electronic) machine and the total openness of form in jazz.
When we ran the rule over the third track, ‘She’, a few months ago it was evident then that he was working at the cutting edge of genre assimilation already and ‘SOS’ continues in the same vein. It isn’t jazz and it isn’t what one would immediately interpret as experimental electronic music either but at the same time there are strong elements of both.
What particularly interests me is when a writer sets himself out as a purveyor of cinematic sound; a composer. Many of those who do that obviously are while some aren’t.
The acid test I suppose is how the music would fit into a movie, if it hasn’t purposefully been written for one.
On the previous occasion I could easily appreciate how ‘She’ might accompany an audio-visual presentation at a planetarium. ‘SOS’ is more graphic and it isn’t difficult to imagine how its alternately relaxed/manic sound might be representative of the calm-before-the storm/explosive approach of a progressively tension-building sci-fi film like ‘Alien’ or ‘Predator’.
Or it could equally represent that tension in a war film. ‘The Hurt Locker’ immediately springs to mind.
Or none of these things might occur to you; perhaps something completely different, or nothing at all.
But that’s the point Lennart Ginman is trying to make. He has already said that the album will be “music for all, but not for everyone.” That’s both pragmatic and ambitious at the same time.
LENNART GINMAN trio:
Lennart Ginman: Double bass, elektronics, Digitone & keyboards
Maggie Björklund: Pedal steel guitar
Steen Rock: Drum machines, fxs & scratch.
Find him on:
Website https://ginman.dk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lennart.ginman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennartginman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lennartginman/
