Disquiet

Contrast and consideration remain hallmarks of The Necks on the veteran instrumental trio’s 20th album, a triple set spanning three hours. Improvised live with some later overdubs, the opening “Rapid Eye Movement” starts out quite placidly before finding its flow towards the middle. Pianist and organist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck, and bassist Lloyd Swanton apply very gradual heat and pressure, with Swanton bowing his bass as the track gathers into a sustained rumble. The 74-minute “Ghost Net” is surprising even by The Necks’ unruly standards, with overlapping (and sometimes diverging) rhythms and bluesy organ flourishes. Buck dons a guitar with dreamy delay for “Causeway,” before raucous bass and drums kick in just ahead of the 10-minute mark and the track eventually interweaves organ and piano on the way to some satisfying soul and psych allusions. The closing “Warm Running Sunlight” is the most traditionally jazz-coded of the four pieces, but we can still rely upon The Necks to pursue some sneaky tangents. For a band that’s been so revered for so long, it’s gratifying to hear how outright playful these three instrumentalists can be across *Disquiet*.