EIVIND AARSET 4TET

Guitarist Eivind Aarset releases a new album in March 2026: Strange Hands showcases his long-standing quartet - Aarset, Audun Erlien, Wetle Holte, and Erland Dahlen - in a stripped-down, less predictable form. Fewer obvious ornaments, more direct impact, yet still that interplay of light and shadow that makes Aarset's sound so cinematic.

Born in 1961 in the Norwegian town of Drøbak, Aarset began as a heavy rock guitarist before working as a session musician on over 150 productions. There he met Bugge Wesseltoft and Nils Petter Molvær. In 1997, he played on Molvær's groundbreaking album Khmer - the first time his guitar could be heard in detail amid samples, programmed beats, and turntable scratching. His five solo albums on Wesseltoft's Jazzland label drew international attention: the New York Times called Électronique Noir "one of the best electric jazz albums since Miles Davis", and All Music Guide credited him with setting a new standard for fusion music.

Strange Hands adds another distinct chapter to this body of work. What defines Aarset's artistry is not the technology at his feet, but the choices at his fingertips - tone, phrasing, the instinct for where exactly a note should begin and end. Effects and sound design remain essential, but they serve a player whose identity would be unmistakable with nothing more than a guitar, a cable, and an amplifier.